By Jon King / jking@whmi.com


A plea has been entered by a Hartland Township man who authorities say nearly beat his father to death.

26-year-old Clay Garner had been charged with assault with intent to murder, assault with intent to do great bodily harm less than murder, aggravated domestic violence, and assaulting, resisting, or obstructing a police officer for the February 18th incident.

He pleaded guilty last week to felonious assault and domestic violence. In exchange, the remaining charges were dropped. Garner’s father previously testified how his son, a former U.S. Marine, had attacked him a day after returning home from a mental health stay at a Veterans Administration hospital. Garner’s father said his son pummeled him on their home’s deck, resulting in three broken ribs and a collapsed lung with internal bleeding.

After about 45 minutes, he said he was able to get back inside his house, followed by his son, where they encountered a Livingston County Sheriff’s Deputy who had arrived after being summoned via a 911 call. The deputy testified he struggled with Garner for about a minute and a half before he broke free and ran downstairs, where he grabbed a golf club and held it over his head. Garner then fled through a door wall into the home’s yard, where a Michigan State Police trooper had just arrived. After repeated commands to drop the club, the trooper twice had to use his Taser on Garner before they could get him into custody.

Garner faces a possible term of four years in prison when he is sentenced on September 16th by Livingston County Circuit Court Judge Suzanne Geddis. However, prosecutors also agreed to refer Garner to the Livingston County Veterans Treatment Court.