According to ABC 7, Damari’s mother, Jannie Perry, is among the family members who have been identified as suspects. While Jannie has been charged for murder, two of the boy’s siblings are charged with hiding his body.
Prosecutors said Jannie spoke to relatives on Dec. 29, saying her son had to be punished for something he had done. The mother allegedly placed the boy in a cold shower for an extended period of time, which caused him to later vomit and become unresponsive. Jannie and her older son, 20-year-old Jeremiah Perry, then disposed of Damari’s body in Indiana, prosecutors said. A third family member is also facing charges, but has only been identified as a juvenile sibling.
The family called the police on Wednesday to report the boy could be missing in Skokie, Illinois. According to the family’s report, a man and woman drove Damari and his 16-year-old sister to a party in Skokie. The child’s sister told police that she fell asleep after having several drinks at the party and woke up to notice that her brother was missing, NBC Chicago reports.
Investigators remained focused on the boy’s home in North Chicago and gathered information from witnesses, leading them to Damari’s body near an abandoned home in Gary.
“HE DID NOT DESERVE THIS:” 6-year-old Damari Perry’s mother and two siblings are charged in connection with his death after he was reported missing by his mother on Wednesday. He just had a birthday on Dec 30. @ABC7Chicago
MORE: https://t.co/g44i77Bq5Q pic.twitter.com/lH0Tj6IyO9
— Tre Ward ABC 7 (@TreWardTV) January 9, 2022
Jannie, 38, is charged with first-degree murder, concealment of a homicidal death and obstructing justice. Jeremiah is charged with aggravated battery causing great bodily harm to a child under 12, concealing a homicidal death and obstructing justice. The other sibling is facing charges in Lake County Juvenile Court.
“This is not replaceable. He’s not replaceable. We can’t go back and get another Damari,” Damari’s cousin, Dreena Driver, said, according to ABC 7. “We’re all shocked. We’re all in disbelief. We all don’t understand how she could let it get to this point. My little cousin should’ve been away from her.”
Dalvin Driver, the boy’s father, said he doesn’t understand why anybody would want to hurt his son.
“I’m lost, man. I feel like I lost a part of myself when I got that call,” he told ABC 7. “He was the best thing you can ever have for the time that I had to spend with him. It was some of the best time that I had in my life. He was just the life of me, man. It’s like you can walk in the room and everybody loved him.”
The 6-year-old was Driver’s youngest child out of five.
“Why would a person hurt a child, my child at that,” the grieving father said. “It’s been like a nightmare that ended yesterday when they told me my son wasn’t coming home.”
