Background: The neighborhood in Round Lake Beach, Ill., where Dominique Servant’s son was found unresponsive on Feb. 6 (Google Maps). Insets (left to right): Dominique Servant and Joey Ruffin (Lake County Sheriff’s Office).
An 8-year-old boy in Illinois died after being found unresponsive by his mother and her boyfriend, and prosecutors are accusing the couple of murder.
Dominique Servant, 32, and her boyfriend, Joey Ruffin, 38, were arrested on Friday after first responders were called to the couple’s home in Round Lake Beach, following a report of an unresponsive child. The child, Servant’s 8-year-old son, was taken to a hospital where he was pronounced dead. Authorities said the boy, who was not identified by name, showed signs of long-term abuse and malnourishment.
During the couple’s first court appearance on Sunday, prosecutors provided more details about what they allege led to the boy’s death at the hands of the people who were responsible for keeping him safe.
According to courtroom reporting by the Daily Herald, a local news outlet, prosecutors accused Servant and Ruffin of beating the boy with a belt and depriving him of food in the days leading up to his death on Friday. That afternoon, Servant and Ruffin found the boy unconscious, and Ruffin attempted CPR on the boy before the couple called 911 at 2 p.m.
Assistant Lake County State’s Attorney Lillian Lewis said Servant told police that she had seen Ruffin punch her son the day before. She also told police that the boy had been on a liquid diet beginning Feb. 4.
An autopsy of the boy allegedly revealed evidence of bruising all over his body and malnourishment.
In a press release on Facebook, the Round Lake Police said the boy had been the target of “long-term neglect, physical abuse, and mental abuse.” During Sunday’s court appearance, Lewis said Servant told authorities that the couple would make the boy hold weights over his head for extended periods of time as punishment.
Police said a 10-year-old girl living in the home was also showing signs of “abuse and malnourishment.” She and a 3-year-old boy were removed from the home and placed in the custody of the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services.
Servant and Ruffin were each charged with two counts of first-degree murder and one count of child endangerment causing death. They were ordered to be held in the Lake County Jail without bond until their court appearance on Monday.
In a follow-up post on Facebook, Round Lake Police Chief Ryan Rodriguez said the case had “shaken us to our core.” He added, “There are simply no words that can fully capture the heartbreak we feel as parents, neighbors, friends, and as a police department. When a precious child is taken from us in such a way, it is natural to feel anger. It is natural to feel confusion. It is natural to ask why.”
