NORTH CHICAGO, Ill. (TCN) — In exchange for a shorter sentence, a mother has pleaded guilty to first-degree murder in the 2021 death of her 6-year-old son, whose body was found burned and dumped in a trash bag.
The Lake & McHenry County Scanner reports Jannie M. Perry, 41, faces up to 45 years in prison in connection with the death of Damari Perry.
On Dec. 30, 2021, the child was put into a cold shower for so long he became unresponsive and vomited. Family members then discussed how to dispose of his body and took it to a different location. They then reported him missing on Jan. 15, 2022.
Damari Perry’s naked body was found in a plastic trash bag near an abandoned house in Gary, Indiana. The cause of death was ruled as hypothermia, and the coroner’s office said his remains had been burned postmortem, the Lake & McHenry County Scanner reports.
On Feb. 2, 2022, the Lake County Attorney’s Office filed a 19-count indictment against Perry and her older son Jeremiah Perry, now 24. They were charged at the time with first-degree murder and additional counts of aggravated battery of a child, dismembering a human body, conspiracy, aggravated domestic battery, concealment of a homicidal death, endangering the life or health of a child, abuse of a corpse, and obstructing justice.
A third family member was also charged, the Lake & McHenry County Scanner reports.
The attorney’s office alleged Jannie Perry and Jeremiah Perry planned to punish Damari Perry using prolonged exposure to a cold shower. A grand jury found evidence that the murder was “exceptionally brutal and heinous,” which allowed prosecutors to seek natural life sentences.
The Lake and McHenry County Scanner reports Perry negotiated a plea deal with the attorney’s office on Dec. 4. She pleaded guilty to first-degree murder and the rest of her charges were dismissed. She no longer faces a natural-life sentence and instead will be sentenced to 20 to 45 years behind bars, the outlet says.
People reports Damari Perry was in foster care after his birth in 2015, but Jannie Perry regained custody in 2017. She is the mother of seven.
She is scheduled to be sentenced on Jan. 31, 2026. The jury trial for Jeremiah Perry is set to begin Feb. 9, 2026.
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