Chicago Man To Police: "I Killed A 5-Month-Old Baby"
After Recanting Abduction Story Chicago Man Admits To Murdering 5-Month-Old Child
Re-printed from a story at WGN Chicago on August 24th 2013
A community gathered to remember a murdered 5-month-old baby after prosecutors charged the boyfriend of the child’s mother with the crime.
Demetries Thorpe, 26, of the 2300 block of Galilee Avenue in Zion, was charged with first degree murder, officials said. Thorpe is currently being held on $5 million bond.
Kiesha Summeries thanked local law enforcement for their hard work looking for her son, and she asked them to keep searching until the little boy is found.
More than one hundred friends and neighbors held a candlelight vigil in support of Joshua Summeries’ family. His father, Clarence, also thanked the Zion community for their love and support.
“I just want to say, I love you son, always and forever,” Summeries said.
According to police, Thorpe confessed to suffocating the little boy, then disposing of his body in a nearby dumpster.
Joshua Summeries was reported missing Wednesday morning. The suspect told police that he put his hand over the boy’s mouth for about 15 seconds until he stopped breathing. He then placed Joshua’s body in a backpack, took it down the alley and placed it in a garbage can, police said.
During a somber news conference this morning, Lake County State’s Attorney Michael Nerheim detailed the investigation. He said the suspect initially lied to the boy’s mother and said the child had been abducted.
Surveillance cameras in the area captured images of Thorpe dumping the backpack in a nearby dumpster. He then waited and watched a garbage truck empty it, Nerheim said.
After the boy went missing, Zion police asked residents to check their garbage cans for the missing boy. The search took a heart-breaking turn yesterday when it was announced police were sifting through garbage in a nearby landfill. The search for the boy’s body continued Saturday.
“It’s a terrible situation. To say a needle in a haystack, it’s even worse than that,” Zion Police Chief Wayne Brooks said.
The search for the body will resume Sunday morning. On March 13th 2014, Joshua Summeries would have turned one year-old.
UPDATE 07-08-2014
Demetries Thorpe has agreed to plead guilty to killing his ex-girlfriend’s infant son last summer and tossing the body in a dumpster.
WBBM Newsradio’s Steve Miller reports that Demetries Thorpe has agreed to plead guilty to first-degree murder in the death of 5-month-old Joshua Summeries in exchange for a guarantee he’d face no longer than 35 years in prison.
Prosecutors said Thorpe suffocated Joshua after the baby would not stop crying at the home Thorpe shared with his girlfriend in Zion. He claimed he disposed of the body in a dumpster, but Joshua’s body never was found.
No trial date had yet been scheduled.
UPDATE 09-02-2014
Demetries Thorpe was sentenced to 30 years in prison for the brutal murder of 5-month-old Joshua Summeries.
At sentencing, Judge Daniel Shanes called the murder of a child “particularly reprehensible” and the specifics of this case “horrific.”
Shanes went onto say that: "He looked to you as a father. Instead, what he got was pain and death..."
References:
WGN Chicago, Boyfriend Charged In Murder Of Missing Baby
Chicago Tribune, Man Charged In Connection With 5-Month-Old's Disappearance
Re-printed from a story at WGN Chicago on August 24th 2013
A community gathered to remember a murdered 5-month-old baby after prosecutors charged the boyfriend of the child’s mother with the crime.
Demetries Thorpe, 26, of the 2300 block of Galilee Avenue in Zion, was charged with first degree murder, officials said. Thorpe is currently being held on $5 million bond.
Kiesha Summeries thanked local law enforcement for their hard work looking for her son, and she asked them to keep searching until the little boy is found.
More than one hundred friends and neighbors held a candlelight vigil in support of Joshua Summeries’ family. His father, Clarence, also thanked the Zion community for their love and support.
“I just want to say, I love you son, always and forever,” Summeries said.
According to police, Thorpe confessed to suffocating the little boy, then disposing of his body in a nearby dumpster.
Joshua Summeries was reported missing Wednesday morning. The suspect told police that he put his hand over the boy’s mouth for about 15 seconds until he stopped breathing. He then placed Joshua’s body in a backpack, took it down the alley and placed it in a garbage can, police said.
During a somber news conference this morning, Lake County State’s Attorney Michael Nerheim detailed the investigation. He said the suspect initially lied to the boy’s mother and said the child had been abducted.
Surveillance cameras in the area captured images of Thorpe dumping the backpack in a nearby dumpster. He then waited and watched a garbage truck empty it, Nerheim said.
After the boy went missing, Zion police asked residents to check their garbage cans for the missing boy. The search took a heart-breaking turn yesterday when it was announced police were sifting through garbage in a nearby landfill. The search for the boy’s body continued Saturday.
“It’s a terrible situation. To say a needle in a haystack, it’s even worse than that,” Zion Police Chief Wayne Brooks said.
The search for the body will resume Sunday morning. On March 13th 2014, Joshua Summeries would have turned one year-old.
UPDATE 07-08-2014
Demetries Thorpe has agreed to plead guilty to killing his ex-girlfriend’s infant son last summer and tossing the body in a dumpster.
WBBM Newsradio’s Steve Miller reports that Demetries Thorpe has agreed to plead guilty to first-degree murder in the death of 5-month-old Joshua Summeries in exchange for a guarantee he’d face no longer than 35 years in prison.
Prosecutors said Thorpe suffocated Joshua after the baby would not stop crying at the home Thorpe shared with his girlfriend in Zion. He claimed he disposed of the body in a dumpster, but Joshua’s body never was found.
No trial date had yet been scheduled.
UPDATE 09-02-2014
Demetries Thorpe was sentenced to 30 years in prison for the brutal murder of 5-month-old Joshua Summeries.
At sentencing, Judge Daniel Shanes called the murder of a child “particularly reprehensible” and the specifics of this case “horrific.”
Shanes went onto say that: "He looked to you as a father. Instead, what he got was pain and death..."
References:
WGN Chicago, Boyfriend Charged In Murder Of Missing Baby
Chicago Tribune, Man Charged In Connection With 5-Month-Old's Disappearance
