Friday 29th March 2024

Two Brookfield residents who have been charged with Second-Degree Murder and other felonies after the findings of a death investigation are due in court this week.
According to a post on the Brookfield Police Department’s Facebook page, at 3:22 a.m. on February 9, officers responded to a call of an unresponsive 11-year-old boy on West Avenue. The child was transported by Linn County Ambulance to Pershing Memorial Hospital, where resuscitation efforts were unsuccessful, and he was pronounced deceased. An autopsy was conducted.
According to online court documents, each 48-year-old Darrel L. Royal and 50-year-old Nancy J. Royal has been charged with a Class A Felony for Second-Degree Murder; a Class A Felony for Abuse or Neglect of a Child Resulting in Death; a Class B Felony for Abuse or Neglect of a Child- Serious Emotional or Physical Injury- No Sexual Contact; and Class D Felonies for Abuse or Neglect of a Child- No Sexual Contact and Endangering the Welfare of a Child, Creating a Substantial Risk in the First Degree, First Offense- No Sexual Contact.
Authorities executed arrest warrants, and the accused persons were transported to the Brookfield Police Department, processed and turned over to the Linn County Sheriff’s Department for transport to the Macon County Jail on August 30, with no bond authorized.
Each of the accused was arraigned on September 4. Each is due for a bond-appearance hearing at 1 p.m. on Thursday, September 12, at Linn County Circuit Court.