The judge assigned to Jannie Perry, the woman charged with murdering her 6-year-old son in North Chicago, has been substituted following a request from the woman’s attorney on Thursday.
A brief hearing was held Thursday afternoon in front of Lake County Judge Paul Novak.
The hearing, which last only a few minutes, was held to discuss a motion filed by Perry’s public defender, Jennifer Snyder, to substitute the judge in her case.
Lake County Assistant State’s Attorney Caitlin Valiulis did not object to the request.
Novak granted the substitution and assigned the case to Lake County Judge Mark Levitt, who is the chief judge.
Perry, 38, of North Chicago, appeared in the Zoom hearing from the Lake County Jail but did not speak.
It is unclear what prompted the request for a new judge in the case. Lake and McHenry County Scanner has reached out to Snyder for comment.
Jannie Perry was charged on January 8 with first-degree murder, concealment of a homicidal death and obstructing justice, for the death of her son, 6-year-old Damari Perry.
Police said Jannie Perry was taken to the hospital the day after she was taken into custody after complaining that she was ill.
Perry was under police custody at the hospital and a warrant had been issued.
She was transported to the Lake County Jail on January 12 after being discharged from the hospital.
Perry has been held in the jail on a $5 million bond. She would have to post $500,000 cash in order to be released.
Prosecutors also charged Damari’s 20-year-old brother, Jeremiah R. Perry, with aggravated battery causing great bodily harm to a child under 12, concealing a homicidal death and obstructing justice.
A third defendant, who authorities said is a juvenile family member, was also charged in the case.
During a bond hearing, Lake County Assistant State’s Attorney Kyle Doyle said the family of Damari reported that the boy “did something that the mother felt needed to be punished for” on December 29.
The next day, Damari was put into a tub or shower with the cold water on for an “extended period of time,” Doyle said.
Damari vomited and became unresponsive. It was determined the boy was deceased but no one in the family called 911, Doyle said.
The incident occurred at the family’s apartment in the 1700 block of Sheridan Road in North Chicago.
Doyle said that Jannie Perry and Jeremiah Perry discussed how to dispose of the body and ended up taking it to Indiana.
On January 5, almost a week after Damari’s death, the family reported the boy missing.
Lake County State’s Attorney Eric Rinehart said investigators determined the family’s story about Damari going missing in Skokie was “completely false.”
Information from witnesses led to the discovery of Damari’s body near an abandoned house in the 700 block of Van Buren Street in Gary, Indiana, according to police and the state’s attorney’s office.
The boy was found wrapped naked in a plastic trash bag, the Lake County, Indiana Coroner’s Office said.
He had bruises, an extremely cold core temperature and partially frozen internal organs, an autopsy found.
His death was ruled a homicide and the cause of death was ruled hypothermia. The coroner’s office said Damari also had postmortem burns.
Jannie Perry is scheduled to appear in court again on February 8 for a preliminary hearing.
Jeremiah Perry, who remains held in jail on a $3 million bond, is scheduled to appear in court again on February 1 for a preliminary hearing.