The Royal Oak nanny murder case has been committed to Oakland County Circuit Court for possible trial after a two-day preliminary examination in which a medical examiner testified that the alleged victim sustained more than 40 penetrating wounds to his head and face before he died. The Oakland Press reported the case advanced following hearings on 25 and 26 June 2026 in 44th District Court.
Samantha Rae Booth faces charges of first-degree murder, second-degree child abuse, felony assault, and three counts of resisting and obstructing police in connection with the death of 83-year-old David Ong on 24 October 2025. The Oakland County Prosecutor’s Office lists Booth’s age as 35; the initial police report placed it at 36.
Ong was the grandfather of the three-year-old girl Booth had been hired to babysit. His daughter, who was out of town at the time, had asked him to call at her Royal Oak home and check on the child’s welfare. When Ong failed to respond to calls, the child’s uncle attended the property and found Booth in the basement, described by police as being in a manic state and covered in blood, with Ong lying on the floor with severe injuries.
Police said the uncle took the child and attempted to leave, but Booth allegedly pursued them outside while armed with a screwdriver. The pair escaped to a neighbouring property and called 911. Authorities said Booth then discarded the screwdriver, removed her clothing, and fled before officers arrested her.
Royal Oak Nanny Murder: What the Medical Examiner Told the Court
The preliminary examination, presided over by 44th District Judge Andrew Kowalski, heard testimony from Oakland County Chief Medical Examiner Dr. Ljubisa Dragović. He told the court that Ong had sustained more than 40 penetrating wounds to his head and face, along with injuries to his chest, back, hands, and forearms consistent with a screwdriver or similar tool, WDIV ClickOnDetroit reported.
Dragović told the court the wounds reflected both sharp-force and blunt-force trauma, that several injuries overlapped, and that the true total may have exceeded the number recorded in his written report. Injuries to Ong’s hands and forearms, he said, were consistent with defensive wounds.
‘It was a process where the victim was able to inhale, to breathe, and also to try to fend off,’ Dragović testified, adding that the injuries were not immediately fatal. An autopsy determined the manner of death to be homicide and the cause of death to be multiple sharp-force injuries.
Under cross-examination, Booth’s defence counsel questioned whether some wounds could have resulted from a fall or from CPR efforts. Dragović acknowledged that individual wounds might have alternative explanations when considered in isolation, but said the overall pattern of trauma supported his conclusions.
Royal Oak police Officer Austin Pelitz also gave evidence, telling the court that responding officers found the front door open and discovered Ong at the bottom of the basement stairs. Pelitz said a bag had been placed over Ong’s head and that officers recovered three screwdrivers near the body.
The Defence Challenges and What Comes Next
Prosecutors have alleged that Booth was under the influence of psychedelic mushrooms at the time of the killing. Her defence counsel contested that claim at the hearing, arguing that she was not on drugs at the time of the alleged offence, the Detroit News reported. The dispute over Booth’s state of mind is likely to be a central issue if the case proceeds to a full jury trial in Oakland County Circuit Court.
With the case now committed for trial, the question of whether the prosecution’s forensic and eyewitness evidence can withstand scrutiny from a jury will be tested. Whether any toxicology findings corroborate or contradict the drug allegation will be among the first battlegrounds in the circuit court proceedings.
