A judge has sentenced a McHenry man to 12 years in prison for shaking and bouncing his 4-month-old son, causing severe injuries that prosecutors say were “devastating and lasting” to the child.
DeShawn M. Wilson, 28, of McHenry, was charged in July 2022 with one count of aggravated battery to a child causing great bodily harm, a Class X felony.
A criminal complaint filed in McHenry County Circuit Court said Wilson caused great bodily harm and “permanent disability and disfigurement” to a juvenile on July 17, 2022.
Wilson bounced and shook the child causing bleeding to their brain, according to the complaint.
The victim also suffered bruising to their back and chest, the complaint added.
The McHenry Police Department and McHenry Township Fire Protection District responded to the home after receiving a call for an unresponsive four-month-old boy.
Wilson, the child’s father, had been caring for the infant while the child’s mother was at work, prosecutors said.
The infant was initially transported by ambulance to Northwestern Medicine McHenry Hospital before being airlifted to Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago due to the severity of his condition.
Prosecutors said the child suffered a severe brain injury that required emergency surgery.
Wilson admitted that while attempting to get his infant son to sleep, he shook and bounced the child, prosecutors said. Officers arrested Wilson on the evening of July 18, 2022.
McHenry County Judge Tiffany Davis set the man’s bond at $100,000 and then-McHenry County Assistant State’s Attorney Tyler Mikan later filed a motion to increase Wilson’s bond.
Mikan said in the motion that Wilson was ordered to have no contact with the mother of the victim as a condition in his case but Wilson repeatedly contacted the mother of the victim at the hospital where the child was receiving treatment.
The contact caused the family of the victim “great distress,” Mikan said in seeking the bond increase and to revoke his phone privileges in jail. The request was denied by a judge.
The state’s attorney’s office said Wilson recently entered a negotiated plea of guilty “with the input and agreement of the victim’s family.”
He pleaded guilty to one count of aggravated battery to a child, which is punishable by a sentence of six to 30 years in the Illinois Department of Corrections (IDOC).
McHenry County Judge Tiffany Davis sentenced Wilson to 12 years in the IDOC pursuant to the plea agreement on Thursday.
He will be required to register as a violent offender against youth and be subject to three years of mandatory supervised release. The prison sentence will be served at 85% in accordance with truth-in-sentencing guidelines.
“This resolution holds Wilson accountable for the devastating and lasting injuries he caused his infant son,” McHenry County State’s Attorney Randi Freese said.
“It also brings these lengthy criminal proceedings to a close for the victim’s family. Our hope is that they can now move forward with their full attention where it belongs—on this child, his continued care, and his well-being,” Freese said.
Freese lauded the McHenry Police Department for its investigation and work throughout the case.
“She also recognizes McHenry County State’s Attorney’s Office Victim Advocate Kelly Gallagher for her steadfast support of the victim and his family throughout these lengthy proceedings. This case was successfully prosecuted by Chief of Staff Ashley Romito,” the state’s attorney’s office said.