HomeCrimeZion Staples likely shot himself: Cops

Zion Staples likely shot himself: Cops

A booking photo of Illinois woman charged with multiple felonies is inset; the background features a screengrab from the defendant

Sushi Staples, inset. (Booking photo from the Rock Island Police Department; Background screenshot of the crime scene from NBC affiliate KWQC)

Zion Williams, the 10-year-old boy found dead in a garbage can behind his Illinois home wearing only a pair of Spider-Man pants, is believed to have died from an accidental self-inflicted gunshot wound.

A detective investigating the circumstances of the boy’s death provided sworn testimony in which he stated that two of the victim’s siblings told investigators  Zion was “playing” with a loaded firearm before his death, according to courtroom footage published by Rock Island, Illinois CBS affiliate WHBF.

The testimony came in court proceedings for the boy’s mother, 37-year-old Sushi Staples. She is facing multiple felonies, including obstruction of justice, failure to report the death of a child under 13, destruction of evidence, and concealment of the death — moving a body for allegedly tossing her son’s corpse in the trash and leaving him to rot for the better part of a year.

Authorities have said they believe Staples refused to report the child’s death because doing so would have prevented her from being able to collect certain state benefits.

In a preliminary hearing for Staples, Rock Island Police Department Detective Jonathan Shappard explained that Zion’s two siblings told detectives that Zion died because he was “playing with a handgun and accidentally shot himself.” The accidental shooting allegedly happened in the basement of the family’s home.

It’s not clear who owned the gun Zion was allegedly playing with or how he came into possession of the firearm.

Shappard also testified that when he interviewed Staples, she “stated several times that she did not have a son” until she finally admitted to moving the little boy’s body because she “didn’t want her other four children to locate his body in the basement.” He also noted dryer sheets “in every vent of the house,” likely placed there to conceal the smell of Zion’s decomposing body.

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