(WWJ) Released from the hospital nearly a month after it's alleged he killed his wife and three children, a Michigan man has been charged in the murders.
The Mecosta County Sheriffs Office said in news release Thursday that 51-year-old Charles Robert Gillard Sr. of Stanwood was formally taken into custody on June 29 in connection with the slayings of 41-year-old Dawn Gillard, 6-year-old Katelynn Gillard, 4-year-old Ronald Gillard, and 3-year-old Joshua Gillard.
Gillard was lodged in the Mecosta County Sheriff's Office Jail and was arraigned in 77th District Court on 15 counts: Four counts of open murder, five counts of committing a felony with a firearm, three counts of child abuse in the first degree, two counts of child abuse in the first degree committed in front of another child, and one count of discharging a firearm in a building causing death.
The sheriff’s office has released Gillard's booking photo, but as a result of his attempted suicide the image is graphic and may be disturbing. **The mugshot can be viewed HERE.**
He is being held without bond.
Stanwood is a village of just over 200 people, according to the latest U.S. Census data, located south of Big Rapids in Mecosta County's Austin Township.
The afternoon of May 27, the sheriff's office said it was called to a home on 180th Ave. near Johnson Rd. on a report about an armed man and shots fired.
At that home Dawn Gillard and the three small children were all found dead, the sheriff's office said, and all four had been fatally shot.
Robert Gillard was also found at the scene, still alive, but suffering from a gunshot wound to the head. He wad taken to Spectrum Health Big Rapids Hospital, later transferred to Butterworth Hospital in Grand Rapids, before being transferred to University of Michigan Hospital.
Gillard faces up to life in prison if convicted as charges.
Authorities have not publicly discussed what led to the killings.
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