Grandparents Accused of Killing 2-Year-Old Grandson with 'Casual Brutality': Reports

Two grandparents accused of killing their 2-year-old grandson allegedly treated him with “casual brutality,” a court in Wales has heard.

Michael and Kerry Ives, both of Garden City, Flintshire, are facing multiple charges, including murder and allowing a child to suffer serious physical harm, after Ethan Ives Griffiths, 2, died in August 2021, North Wales Police said in a press release in March 2024. 

On Wednesday, June 4, the case went to trial at Mold Crown Court, with the prosecutor stating that other children had been encouraged to mistreat the victim as “play,” per the BBC.

The boy was reportedly discovered “severely underweight” and “covered in bruises,” the court heard, per the BBC, while his head injuries were “catastrophic” per ITV. The couple has denied the charges against them. 

Ethan’s mother, Shannon Kayleigh Ives, is also facing a slew of charges related to the alleged neglect of Ethan, and has denied any wrongdoing, per the BBC.

The outlet stated that Ethan and his mother, and some other children, had been living with her parents in the summer of 2021.

According to ITV, Michael and Kerry Ives have blamed their daughter for Ethan’s death. 

Prosecutor Caroline Rees added that the child would have likely experienced “distress, pain and misery in the days and weeks prior to his death,” citing a medical expert, ITV reported.

The court heard that Ethan sustained his fatal injury on Aug. 14, 2021, while he was downstairs with his grandparents and his mom was upstairs on the phone, the outlet noted.

An ambulance was called to the home, but the toddler died two days later, on Aug. 16, 2021, the London Evening Standard reported.

Michael and Kerry reportedly told police the victim had collapsed suddenly, ITV stated, but Rees said the couple worked together “as a team of two to conceal the truth,” entering a “pact of silence” as to their alleged actions.

The court heard that Kerry allegedly didn’t call emergency services for nearly 20 minutes after Ethan collapsed, per the BBC. 

Rees said that Ethan had been assaulted, telling the court he was “treated with casual brutality by the people trusted to protect him,” the outlet stated.

On the night of the alleged assault, paramedics described Ethan as “being emaciated with a sunken chest,” the BBC reported, adding that he was bleeding and had bruises. Staff at Alder Hey Children’s Hospital in Liverpool, where the victim was taken, found that he was malnourished, with one paramedic describing him as looking “like a 90-year-old man” because he was so gaunt.

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Per the BBC, Ethan’s injuries allegedly showed evidence of shaken baby syndrome, suggestive of “abusive head trauma.”

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The court heard that Shannon had said in an interview that she was “petrified of her father in particular” and claimed to have seen her parents “shaking Ethan in anger on many occasions,” the outlet noted.

The trial is set to continue on Monday, June 9. North Wales Police didn’t have any further updates to add at this time when contacted by PEOPLE.

The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) didn’t immediately respond when contacted by PEOPLE for additional information.