Wednesday, March 26, 2014

Bail denied for non-custodial dad charged with killing 2-year-old daughter; DCFS found previous abuse allegations "unfounded" (Lansing, Illinois)

Dad JEREMIAH THOMPSON, we are told, did not have "custody" per se. But he did apparently have some sort of visitation rights. Court ordered, even though he had a history of child abuse that CPS couldn't manage to substantiate? If so, who was the judge? And what happened to this child's mother? Was there a history of abuse against the mother as well, abuse that was ignored by the police and other authorities?

http://chicago.cbslocal.com/2014/03/26/bail-denied-for-man-charged-with-killing-2-year-old-daughter/

Bail Denied For Man Charged With Killing 2-Year-Old Daughter

March 26, 2014 6:54 AM

(STMW) – A father charged with murder his 2-year-old daughter in south suburban Lansing has been ordered held without bond.

Jeremiah Thompson, 21, has been charged with first-degree murder in connection to the death of 2-year-old Jahariah Patterson, a release from the Village of Lansing said.

He is being held without bond and will next appear in court for a preliminary hearing April 10, according to the Cook County State’s Attorney’s office.

About 2 p.m. March 19, paramedics responding to a medical emergency in the 17900 block of Wildwood Avenue found Patterson unresponsive, the statement said.

She was later pronounced dead at the scene at 2:31 p.m., according to the Cook County Medical Examiner’s office.

An autopsy found she died of multiple blunt force injuries from child abuse, and ruled her death a homicide, the medical examiner’s office said.

Thompson was arrested after Lansing Police Department and the South Suburban Major Crimes Task Force conducted a joint investigation. A village spokesman confirmed Thompson is the baby’s father.

The state Dept. of Children and Family Services said Friday it was investigating the baby’s father after the death, DCFS spokeswoman Karen Hawkins. He did not have legal custody of her at the time of her death, Hawkins said.

DCFS also investigated him twice before, in May 2013 and July 2013, Hawkins said. Allegations in May were “unfounded,” but the July investigation indicated abuse, she said.