CHICAGO — The Illinois Department of Children and Family Services on Monday said it had two prior contacts with the family of a North Chicago boy who was found dead in an abandoned northwest Indiana house last week and whose mother and his two siblings have been charged in his death.
The contacts took place in 2014 and last year, DCFS said. The department did not immediately have details on the contacts.
Meanwhile, authorities investigating the death of the boy, 6-year-old Damari Perry, said his mother, who has been charged with first-degree murder, hasn’t appeared before a judge because she has been hospitalized since the weekend.
Jannie Perry, 38, had been expected to appear for a Sunday morning bond hearing alongside another of her sons, Jeremiah Perry, 20, but her name was pulled from the docket, Jim Newton, a spokesman for the Lake County state’s attorney’s office previously explained.
Monday, however, Newton said police in the family’s hometown of North Chicago took Jannie Perry to an area hospital Saturday, “after she complained that she was ill.”
“Ms. Perry is under police custody at a local hospital. She will be taken to bond court once she is medically discharged from the hospital,” according to North Chicago police.
North Chicago police Chief Lazaro Perez on Monday said he could not discuss Perry’s medical issues. He also said there is no timeline of when she will be released from the hospital.
Along with the charge of first-degree murder, Jannie Perry also has been charged with obstructing justice and concealment of a homicidal death. But Newton said it wasn’t clear when she might appear before a judge, adding: “I have no information on when she may be able to attend court.”
Jeremiah Perry, Damari’s older brother, was charged with aggravated battery causing great bodily harm to a child under 12, concealing a homicidal death and obstructing justice, the statement said. A judge ordered him held on $3 million bail during his hearing Sunday, Newton said.
Another of Damari’s siblings appeared in Lake County juvenile court Sunday on charges in the case, but Newton declined to provide details.
Damari was reported missing Wednesday by his mother and a sibling, and the family at first told police he might be in Skokie, which turned out to be a “completely false” story contradicted by evidence and resulting in the obstructing justice charges, officials said.
Investigators then turned their focus to the boy’s home in North Chicago and the three were arrested Friday night. The boy’s body was discovered in Gary early the next day.
DCFS said there were seven children of Jannie Perry in their North Chicago home. Four now are in foster care.
An autopsy had been expected to be performed Monday, but the results were not immediately available. Investigators Sunday, however, said it is believed Damari was forced to take a cold shower Dec. 29 as a punishment and was held there by relatives for an unknown amount of time; he later started vomiting and became unresponsive.
The allegation that a cold shower was used as punishment drew comparisons with the 2019 death of Andrew “AJ” Freund, 5, of Crystal Lake, whose parents later were convicted of causing his death.
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