Cook County woman ignored baby son's screaming as he starved to death: prosecutors

New disturbing information was revealed in court on Friday regarding the death of a 17-month-old boy and his mother who has been charged with first-degree murder.

On Oct. 17, 2022, authorities responded to a trailer park home in the 800 block of Victory Lane in Justice, Illinois, after baby Nathan was discovered unresponsive in his crib.

According to court documents, Nathan was cold to the touch, discolored, severely malnourished, not wearing a diaper and covered in feces and vomit. Police also say rigor mortis was setting in.

Nathan was taken to Ingalls Hospital where he was pronounced dead at 12:49 p.m.

The Cook County medical examiner ruled Nathan's death a homicide by nutritional neglect. At the time of his death, Nathan weighed 9.5 pounds. Officials say the average weight for a child Nathan's age is 20 to 31 pounds.

When Nathan was born, he weighed 6.6 pounds – meaning he only weighed about three more pounds at the time of his death 17 months later.

Court documents state that inside the home, authorities observed ample food, and that cats that lived in the trailer were found well-fed and watered with no signs of neglect.

Nathan's mother was identified as 22-year-old Jamie Hannion. Her sister, who also lived in the home, took care of Nathan on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday each week when Hannion would go to work. Hannion was the sole caregiver at all other times, including the weekend.

The sister told authorities that when she would take over watching Nathan on Mondays, he was always visibly skinnier than any other time of the week.

SUBSCRIBE TO FOX 32 CHICAGO ON YOUTUBE

According to court documents, because of Hannion's lack of care, Nathan was developmentally delayed, not able to feed himself, not able to speak, and not able to crawl or walk. He was rarely let out of his crib by his mother, documents state.

Hannion's sister says she last saw Nathan alive on the Friday afternoon of Oct. 14. When she returned to the home on Monday, Nathan was dead in his crib.

Documents state that cellphone data confirmed Hannion was at home the entire weekend. Her sister told police that when Hannion is not working, she rarely left her room and played video games.

The sister also said that even when Hannion was supposed to be caring for Nathan, that she – the sister – would have to tend to the child.

According to court documents, medical records for Nathan showed he was admitted to a hospital on June 13, 2022, after a checkup revealed he was not in good shape. His weight at the time was 13 pounds. He stayed at the hospital until June 17, and was discharged weighing 13.5 pounds.

Medical records show doctors told Hannion that Nathan had to eat more, and that the doctor was concerned about the child's care.

Nathan's grandmother then took Nathan back to the hospital for a follow-up appointment on June 20, and again, the doctor had concerns over Nathan's weight.

Nathan again had to stay at the hospital for another short period of time.

Hannion told Cook County Sheriff's police that she is not a good mother, and that she lacked motivation to feed and take care of Nathan, according to court documents.

Documents state she told police that over the weekend when Nathan died, Hannion heard her son screaming on Saturday but ignored it and did not check on him once throughout the entire weekend.

She said the screaming eventually stopped, and that she wasn't motivated to get up and check on Nathan.

Hannion has been charged with first-degree murder. She was denied bail on Friday. She's next due in court on April 20.