WHITE CLOUD, Mich. – The man who was last took care of a four-month old baby in Newaygo County has pleaded guilty to concealing her death.
Matthew Bradley made the plea at his pre-trial conference Tuesday. He pleaded guilty to Concealing Death as a Habitual Offender, 2nd offense. Sentencing guidelines for the charge is a minimum of 28 months and a maximum of five years in prison. However, because Bradley has a previous offense, he could be sentenced to up to 7.5 years. Sentencing has been scheduled for August 24th.
Natallya Rich’s body was found in the early morning hours of May 13 in the basement of her grandmother’s White Cloud home. According to probable cause testimony, Bradley admitted he was on drugs like meth, norco pills and morphine on the days before and after she died.
Bradley allegedly told investigators that he was in charge of watching Natallya on Saturday, May 9 when her mother, Brittany Rich, went to work. He claims that he took a nap, and when he woke up the baby was unresponsive. He said he tried CPR on the baby but it didn’t work. The cause of Natallya’s death has not yet been determined.
He allegedly hid Natallya’s body- in her car seat- in the crawl space of the basement. When Brittany returned home, he told her the baby was sleeping. He told police he was too afraid to tell anyone.
