GLASGOW — Two people charged with murder in connection with the death of a 19-month-old boy will stand trial next year.

Devin Pierce, 24, of Scottsville, and Serenity Brown, 21, of Glasgow, learned Monday during a hearing in Barren Circuit Court that their jury trial is to begin on March 18, 2025.

Barren Circuit Judge John Alexander set aside four days for the trial to take place.

Pierce and Brown are scheduled to return to court on Sept. 23 for a pretrial conference.

Alexander on Monday also modified Pierce’s bond at the request of his attorney, David Broderick.

Pierce posted a $50,000 property bond on Jan. 26, 2023, and was made to wear an ankle monitor as one of the conditions of his bond.

Broderick asked for the removal of the ankle monitor, citing the fact that Pierce has had no bond violations during the 15 months he has been out of jail and mentioning the possibility that Pierce will begin a job in Tennessee in the near future.

Alexander agreed to the removal of the ankle monitor.

Brown and Pierce were indicted in 2022 by a grand jury in Barren County following an investigation by the Barren County Sheriff’s Office.

On March 27, 2021, deputies responded to a call from a residence on North Lucas Road regarding a 19-month-old boy who was unresponsive.

The boy was taken to T.J. Samson Community Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

According to the sheriff’s office, detectives noted suspicious bruising on the child’s head, so an autopsy was performed by the Kentucky Office of the State Medical Examiner in Louisville.

“The results of the autopsy determined the child died from blunt impact injuries of the head, and the manner of death was ruled homicide,” the sheriff’s office said in a press release.

The indictment accuses Pierce and Brown of wantonly engaging in conduct that created a grave risk of the death to the child, identified in the indictment as “T.D.S.”, and therefore causing his death.

Expert witnesses who have reviewed the information in the case offer conflicting theories on the nature of the child’s death, according to court records.

Barren County Commonwealth’s Attorney John Gardner filed notice in January that he intends to introduce testimony from Dr. Melissa Currie, medical director of Norton’s Children’s Pediatric Protection Specialists and chief of the Kosair for Kids Division of Pedatric Medicine.

Currie is expected to testify about the various ways blunt force trauma can cause brain injury and death in a toddler and that the 19-month-old’s injuries in this case were the result of an assault, Gardner said in his filing.

“It is (Currie’s) opinion that the type of injuries the victim suffered did not occur with typical household ‘short falls’ because the victim, on his own, would not have been able to generate the kinds of force necessary to cause these injuries,” Gardner said in the filing.

Broderick filed a notice in February of his intent to call Dr. John Hunsaker, a retired state medical examiner, as an expert witness.

Hunsaker is anticipated to testify that the child’s injuries are more consistent with a short fall from a coffee table and that there is no proof to show beyond a reasonable doubt that the child’s injuries were the result of abuse, Broderick said in his filing.

“Certain bruising and redness, although not explained by the Commonwealth’s experts, are certainly consistent with the results of emergency care given to the child by various medical providers,” Broderick said in his filing, going on to note the child’s “history of jumping from tables” that has emerged during the investigation.

Two other co-defendants, Marty Brown, 60, and Jessica Brown, 46, both of Glasgow, are charged with tampering with physical evidence.

They made brief court appearances Monday with their attorney, Johnny Bell, and were directed to return to court on Sept. 23 for a pretrial conference.