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MENOMINEE -- A Bark River man has entered a no contest plea to second degree murder in the slaying of his adoptive father in 2019.
Gary Phillips-Donovan, 35, was originally charged with homicide open murder and two counts of home invasion in November 2019, for the beating death of his father, 74-year-old Michael Donovan.
Phillips-Donovan pleaded no contest to second degree murder earlier this week. The case had been scheduled for a jury trial scheduled for April, but the trial was postponed due to coronavirus pandemic.
A sentencing is set for November 5.
Michael Donovan, the was found in the detached garage of his home at W546 US-2/41 in Harris Township on Nov. 19, 2019, suffering from extensive trauma to his head and face. A forensic autopsy determined Michael Donovan died from blunt force trauma to the head and neck, and the death was homicide.
Gary Phillips-Donovan was later arrested and charged with Michael Donovan's death. He has been incarcerated since that time.
Phillips-Donovan was bound over to circuit court in the case in January 2020.
Previous testimony from witnesses in Memoninee County courts described events the day of the slaying.
According to testimony, for Michael Donovan and his wife, Patricia, Nov. 19 started out as a fairly normal day, except that one of their granddaughters, who lives with them, stayed home sick from school.
According to Patricia Donovan, she and her husband were sitting at their kitchen table at around 11:30 a.m., 12 p.m. EST when their granddaughter Carly Alexander, 9, came out and told them that "Uncle Gary" is in hers and Patricia's room going through the drawers where Patricia sometimes stores money. Both Patricia and Alexander spoke on how Michael Donovan got up and spoke loudly and sternly with Phillips-Donovan to never come to the house unannounced again.
According to Patricia, Phillips-Donovan, wearing all black clothing, left the house, then a few minutes later Michael got up to check on the garage to make sure Phillips-Donovan was not stealing anything.
After awhile, Patricia and Alexander walked to the garage to check on Michael. When Patricia found her husband lying on the garage floor with blunt force trauma to his face, she said she yelled for Alexander to go the house to get her cellphone and walked to the other residence on the property to get her son Henry.
A shovel was found next to Michael Donovan's body, however, Patricia recalled that Henry had moved it when he placed a towel underneath his head while she was on the phone with 911 dispatchers.
A homicide investigation by the Michigan State Police began with Phillips-Donovan as the main suspect.
At around 2:08 p.m., dispatchers advised officers that a white truck driven by Phillips-Donovan was located at the Oasis gas station, near the Island Resort and Casino in Harris Township.
Trooper Kyle Kelley assisted Immel in pulling over the vehicle and getting the five individuals, including Phillips-Donovan, to exit it. Phillips-Donovan was taken into custody.