Source: Kansas City father may have beaten son to death, fed him to pigs
Michael Jones, 44, was charged with aggravated assault with a firearm, aggravated battery, and child abuse: torturing or cruelly beating. Image via Wyandotte County Jail.
A father from the Kansas City area is being charged with several crimes ranging from aggravated assault to child abuse. However, he's being held on a bond that's set higher than most murder charges. According to a Kansas City TV station, the father killed his 7-year-old son and fed him to pigs.
Michael A. Jones, 44, was arrested Wednesday morning and later charged with aggravated assault with a firearm, aggravated battery, and child abuse: torturing or cruelly beating. However, he's being held on a $10 million bond - higher than most murder charges - and has not been charged with murder four days after the arrest.
According to KCTV in Kansas City, a source says investigators fear the worst - that Jones killed his 7-year-old son and fed him to pigs in the backyard of the family home.
Police were called to the home in Kansas City suburb of Piper on Wednesday morning. KCTV reports the call was a report of Jones attacking his wife and firing a gun at her. During the investigation at the home, police moved on a tip to check for the decomposed body of a missing 7-year-old boy.
By the next day, police had searched a barn on the property and discovered human remains.
The battery and assault charges are for the Wednesday incident. He's also charged with 'torturing or cruelly beating' a child. That crime allegedly happened sometime between May 1 and September 28.
Two women who cared for the children from time-to-time said the conditions inside the home were deplorable and they want to make sure justice is served. They also said the other seven children are safe and in police custody.
A police source told KCTV that investigators are concerned the remains are of the boy and they believe he was first beaten to death and then fed to the pigs.
One of the women said Jones' 29-year-old wife just bought the pigs in September.
Those remains have not yet been identified.