By Shavonne Potts

Salisbury Post

A Rowan County couple are mourning the loss of their great-grandson, who was killed after his mother’s boyfriend punched the toddler in the stomach.

Sharon and Phil Wietbrock traveled to Michigan this week where their great-grandson died.

Sharon Wietbrock has operated a concession stand in the Rowan County courthouse for more than 18 years, and Phil Wietbrock has worked for W.A. Brown, a Salisbury commercial refrigeration firm, for more than 30 years.

According to the South Bend Tribune, Jonathon Duane Roseberry, 26, is facing felony murder and second-degree murder charges in the death of 3-year-old Glen Ferguson. The paper reports that Roseberry was roughhousing with the toddler Sunday while his mother, Amber Palmateer, was at work.

Roseberry told authorities he struck Glen in the stomach region on possibly two separate occasions.

The child was taken to the hospital Monday by his mother and Roseberry after he began vomiting blood, the South Bend Tribune reported. Medical reports revealed Glen suffered a bowel rupture. Doctors found bruises on the child’s face, back, abdomen, lower torso, genital area and hands and feet.

Roseberry is being held under $500,000 bond in the Berrien County Jail in Saint Joseph, Mich.

Sharon Wietbrock’s friend, Liz Woodie, said Wednesday, she was with her friend Tuesday when she received the telephone call about the child’s death. Wietbrock was so upset Woodie had to drive her home.

Wietbrock told Woodie the family would have a viewing and the toddler’s body would be cremated.

“She seemed pretty calm. Her husband, Phil, is taking it hard, but he is doing OK,” she said.

Sharon Wietbrock, who is legally blind, runs her concession stand Monday-Friday, sometimes with help from grandchildren.

Woodie said Wietbrock had just received family photos of Glen a week before his death.

Woodie said she expects the family to return to Rowan County this weekend.

“The family’s in all our prayers. God help the person who did this. He was a child,” she said.

Contact Shavonne Potts at 704-797-4253 or spotts@salisburypost.com.