A 6-year-old Chicago boy was found dead in freezing temperatures in Indiana Saturday morning. A medical examiner, on Tuesday evening, ruled that the Illinois boy, Damari Perry, was killed in a gruesome homicide.
Three relatives have been accused of forcing the boy into a cold shower on Dec. 30. These three family members made him stay in the cold shower until he threw up and passed out. Then they failed to even try to help the boy or call anyone for assistance.
The boy froze to death, and they allegedly dumped his body near an abandoned house in Gary, Indiana, local authorities said.
The Lake County Coroner’s Office announced in a gruesome press release that the pending cause of death is hypothermia, describing other injuries they found on the child.
Coroner David Pastrick believed Damari may have frozen to death before his partially burned body suffered “charring.” Damari was found naked and wrapped in a plastic trash bag, authorities said
The doctor, Dr. Zhou Wang, who did the postmortem examination, discovered scattered bruising on the boy’s right leg, “extremely cold core temperature and partially frozen internal organs,” Pastrick said in a statement.
Additional test for toxicology and histology is being conducted, and the results could take another month.
Prior to his death, two investigations were previously launched into Damari’s family by The Illinois Department of Children and Family Services, according to local reports. Damari’s mother, Jannie Perry, was accused during one of the investigations of making harmful threats. However, the allegation was later ruled unfounded.
Perry reportedly lost custody of all her six children, including Damari, who was born into the foster care system, in 2015. Two years later, she regained custody of all of them, DCFS documents obtained by CBS 2 Chicago showed.
Damari’s family faces an accusation of lying to police officers and reporters when they reported the boy missing Wednesday, claiming his 16-year-old sister brought him to a party in Skokie, Illinois, and lost sight of him.
In an earlier press release, Lake County State’s Attorney Eric Reinhardt’s office said:
“The family initially provided information to police indicating that Damari might be missing in Skokie, Illinois. But investigators quickly turned their focus to the boy’s home in North Chicago after the family’s story was contradicted by evidence in Skokie.”
On Saturday, Reinhardt’s office charged 38-year-old mom Jannie Perry with first-degree murder, obstructing justice, and concealment of a homicidal death. Damari’s 20-year-old brother, Jeremiah R. Perry, has been charged with aggravated battery causing great bodily harm to a child under 12, concealing a homicidal death, and obstructing justice. Another juvenile sibling of Damari is facing unspecified charges.
