Robertson will appear in court next week for status conference
TINA L. SCOTT
EDITOR
On July 7, 2022, Amber Boyd of Merrill was sentenced to 10 years in prison, with four of those years to be confined to state prison and six years to be served under extended supervision, in relation to the death of her 14-month-old son, Grayson Robertson, on Nov. 12, 2020.
On that date, Boyd called 911 and said “my baby isn’t breathing.” Emergency personnel responded and were unable to resuscitate the child.
Methamphetamine, marijuana, LSD, and drug paraphernalia were all found in the home, and all of the children in the home, including the deceased child, tested positive for the presence of methamphetamine.
In a March 31, 2022, plea hearing, Boyd pleaded guilty to Neglecting a Child (Consequence is Death) and that date was used as her conviction date. As part of Boyd’s plea, the other charges against her were dismissed but read into the record, and Boyd is prohibited from having any contact with Cody Robertson, the father of her children and the co-defendant in this case. She was credited for the 415 days already served.
At the time of Grayson’s death, two other children were removed from the home and placed in foster care.
All three children had previously been in foster care, including Grayson, who had been placed in foster care as a newborn. However, the children had all been reunified with their parents and social workers were monitoring the children. Lincoln County Social Services had made a home visit on Nov. 11, 2020, the day before the baby’s death.
After a six-month investigation, Lincoln County Sheriff’s Deputies arrested both parents, Amber Boyd and Cody Robertson, and charged them in connection with Grayson’s death. Both parents were charged with Neglecting a Child (Consequence is Death) and a host of related charges.
Boyd was pregnant at the time of the arrest, and she gave birth to the couple’s fourth child in October 2021. That baby was placed in “substitute care.”
As a part of her sentence, Boyd may only have contact with her minor children by permission of the family court or through a family interaction plan.
Since she has been in jail, Boyd studied for and got her GED in Sept. 2021, and family members say she has expressed great remorse and sorrow over the death of her son.
Absolute sobriety and mental and drug abuse counseling are also a part of her sentence.
Cody Robertson, the father of the children, previously entered a plea of not guilty to the charges he faces.
However, in a July 5, 2022, letter to the judge in this case, his attorney indicated an agreement had been reached and that, “It is partially consistent with the terms of Mr. Robertson’s significant other, Amber Boyd.”
Robertson is scheduled to appear in court on July 18, 2022, for a status conference in his case.
