A mother and her two sons were charged with killing their six-year-old son on his birthday before dumping his body in an alley in Indiana and then falsely reporting him missing.
Mother and her two sons charged with killing her six-year-old son on his birthday
Damari Perry was allegedly forced to stand under a cold shower for an extended period by family members until he vomited and lost consciousness on Dec. 30, in a case authorities described as “one of the worst” they have ever seen.
Lake County State’s Attorney Eric Rinehart said the abuse as carried out on the orders of Damari’s mother, Jannie Perry, on the boy’s sixth birthday.
Perry allegedly wanted to punish her son for something she says he had done the day before.
After he stopped responding, Damari was pulled out of the cold water and left to die, authorities said.
“He was placed in a cold bath for an extended period of time, family members kept him there at the mother’s direction,” Rinehart told WGN9.
“We believe the mother may have also been involved and, at some point, the child stopped responding, vomited and died.”
After her death, family members left Damari’s body dumped in an alley near an abandoned house in Gary, Indiana, WGN9 reported.
Perry, 38, reported her son missing six days later on Jan. 5.
Brothers involved are charged
Several family members were questioned about the events surrounding Damari’s disappearance, leading investigators to focus on the mother and adult siblings and the discovery of Damari’s body Friday night.
Perry was charged with first-degree murder, concealing a homicidal death and obstruction of justice on Saturday.
Damari’s adult brother, Jeremiah Perry, 20, was also indicted in connection with his younger brother’s death on charges of aggravated assault causing grievous bodily harm to a child under the age of 12, concealing a homicidal death and obstruction of justice.
Another Damari brother also faces charges of concealing a body, but he has not been publicly identified and is being held in Lake County Juvenile Court because he is a minor, authorities said.
