Ill. Mom Killed Her 6-Year-Old Son with Cold Shower: 'Brutal and Heinous' By Sean Neumann 14

An Illinois mother has pleaded guilty to the 2021 murder of her 6-year-old son — years after state prosecutors filed charges against her and her older son for allegedly placing the young boy in a cold shower for a “prolonged” period of time as punishment for his behavior.

Jannie Perry, now 42, pleaded guilty to the first-degree murder charge last Friday and will be sentenced next month in a Lake County courtroom, according to The Chicago Tribune.

As a result of a plea deal, state prosecutors reportedly agreed to drop some of the other charges against Perry in connection with her son’s death and agreed to sentence her to no more than 45 years in prison. When prosecutors first announced charges against the Illinois mother in February 2022, Perry and her older son Jeremiah Perry, now 24, both faced life in prison for a list of charges.

Lake County State’s Attorney Eric Rinehart said at the time that the mother and her older son’s plan to punish her younger son, Damari Perry, was “exceptionally brutal and heinous,” alleging that their actions resulted in the boy’s death.

The Lake County State’s Attorney’s Office had originally announced first-degree murder charges against both Jannie and Jeremiah. The two Illinois natives were also originally charged with eight counts of murder, as well as charges for aggravated battery of a child, dismembering a human body, conspiracy, aggravated domestic battery, concealment of a homicidal death, endangering the life or health of a child, abuse of a corpse and obstructing justice.

Jannie had also initially been charged with failure to report the death or disappearance of a child under the age of 13. It’s unclear which charges were dropped beyond the first-degree murder charge she pleaded guilty to last week.

PEOPLE has reached out to the Lake County State’s Attorney’s Office but did not immediately hear back.

Prosecutors alleged at the time they announced their initial charges against the pair that “the evidence shows that Jannie and Jeremiah Perry formulated and enacted a plan to severely punish Damari through prolonged exposure in a cold shower.” The state’s attorney’s office also claimed evidence showed the mother and her son also “burned Damari’s remains after his death” to try and cover up his murder.

“As prosecutors considered the crime scene where Damari died, it became clear that this was a calculated plan against a small child,” Rinehart said in a statement. “Damari’s final minutes warrant the sentencing enhancements that accompany such ‘brutal and heinous’ circumstances. The defendants’ stunning failure to seek medical attention demonstrates their intent to end Damari’s life.”

Want to keep up with the latest crime coverage? Sign up for PEOPLE’s free True Crime newsletter for breaking crime news, ongoing trial coverage and details of intriguing unsolved cases. 

According to the Tribune, another one of Perry’s children was charged in connection with the 6-year-old boy’s death but had been charged as a juvenile. 

Perry, a mother of seven, had previously fought to regain custody of her late son Damari in 2017 after he was placed in the Illinois foster system following his birth in 2015, the outlet reported.

She will be sentenced on Jan. 30, 2026. Jeremiah is set to face trial starting on Feb. 9, 2026.