A mother pleaded guilty on Thursday and faces up to 45 years in prison for murdering her 6-year-old son in North Chicago and dumping his burned body in an abandoned home.
Jannie M. Perry, 41, of North Chicago, was charged in January 2022, with first-degree murder, dismembering a human body, aggravated battery of a child, aggravated domestic battery, concealing a homicidal death, child endangerment, abuse of a corpse, parent giving false information, failure to report child death and obstructing justice for the death of her son — 6-year-old Damari Perry.
Prosecutors also charged Damari’s 24-year-old brother, Jeremiah R. Perry, with first-degree murder, dismembering a human body, aggravated battery of a child, aggravated domestic battery, concealing a homicidal death, child endangerment, abuse of a corpse and obstructing justice.
A third defendant, who authorities said is a juvenile family member, was also charged in the case.
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, 2021.
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.
Almost a week after Damari’s death, the family reported the boy missing on January 5, 2022.
Damari’s 16-year-old sister told investigators that she and Damari were driven to a party in the Skokie area by a man and a woman.
Damari’s sister claimed that she had several drinks at the party and fell asleep. When she awoke approximately two hours later, she claimed Damari and the man were no longer in the apartment.
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.
According to the grand jury indictment, the grand jury found evidence that the boy’s murder was “exceptionally brutal and heinous,” which allows prosecutors to seek natural life sentences.
The charge of dismembering a human body stems from evidence that the family burned Damari’s remains after his death.
Court records show Jannie Perry entered into a partially negotiated plea deal on Thursday with the Lake County State’s Attorney’s Office.
She pleaded guilty to one count of first-degree murder and the rest of her charges were dismissed, which means she no longer faces the natural life in prison sentence.
The charge she pleaded guilty to carries a minimum of 20 years and a maximum of 45 years in the Illinois Department of Corrections, which will be served at 100% in accordance with truth-in-sentencing guidelines.
Prosecutors previously indicated that they could seek up to 60 years in prison for the dismembering charge alone.
“As prosecutors considered the crime scene where Damari died, it became clear that this was a calculated plan against a small child. Damari’s final minutes warrant the sentencing enhancements that accompany such ‘brutal and heinous’ circumstances,” Lake County State’s Attorney Eric Rinehart said in 2022.
A sentencing hearing is scheduled for January 30. A status hearing is set in the interim for January 22.
The case against Jeremiah Perry remains ongoing and is set for a jury trial on February 9.