Damari Perry, the North Chicago child who authorities say was killed the day before his sixth birthday, was literally born into the foster care system, according to Illinois Department of Children and Family Services records.

       The boy’s mother, Jannie M. Perry, who is charged in Damari’s death, lost custody of her six other children in 2014 after a DCFS domestic violence investigation, department spokesman Bill McCaffrey said Monday. Shortly after Damari was born on Dec. 30, 2015, he also went into foster care. DCFS records show that Perry regained custody of her children in 2017.

       In May 2021, the spokesman said, DCFS investigated an allegation of abuse or neglect involving Damari, but the report was later determined to be unfounded. On Dec. 29, a family member kept Damari in a cold shower as a punishment for misbehavior until he became unresponsive and later died, authorities allege.

       Jannie Perry, 38, remained under medical care Monday and in police custody, awaiting a bond court appearance in the death of her son, North Chicago police Chief Lazaro Perez said.

       “We’re waiting for her to get out so we can get on with the process,” Perez said Monday.

       Perry is charged with first-degree murder, and two of her other children are charged in connection with the boy’s death.

       Perez said he did not believe that North Chicago police had previous law enforcement contacts at the Perry family residence in the 1700 block of North Sheridan Road.

       Jannie Perry’s children are as old as 20, according to authorities. Her oldest, Jeremiah R. Perry, has been charged with aggravated battery and concealment of a homicide in connection with his brother’s death. Another Perry child, whom authorities say is 17, has been charged as a juvenile.

       Perry’s four other children have been placed in foster care with DCFS, McCaffrey said.

       Perry and two of her children were arrested over the weekend after North Chicago police and FBI agents recovered the Damari’s body early Saturday near an abandoned house in Gary.

       In a Sunday bond hearing for Jeremiah Perry, Lake County prosecutors in Waukegan said a family member had forced Damari Perry to remain in a cold shower on Dec. 29 for an unspecified period until the child began to vomit and he became unresponsive. The cold shower was a punishment for misbehavior, prosecutors told the judge.

       Despite the boy’s apparent distress, no one in the home sought medical attention for him and he later died, authorities said. After the boy died, family members took his body to Gary and left it in the 700 block of Van Buren Street.

       Damari was reported missing Wednesday, and his mother and a sibling told police the child might be in Skokie. But investigators determined that story was “completely false,” the prosecutor said at the Jeremiah Perry hearing.

       Jannie Perry and two of her children were taken into custody Friday night.

       The Lake County (Indiana) coroner’s office conducted an autopsy Monday, but preliminary results were not expected to be released until Monday night or possibly Tuesday, a coroner’s investigator said.

       Jannie Perry was expected to appear in bond court Sunday but complained of medical issues Saturday and was taken to a hospital. Authorities have not disclosed the nature of her illness. Perez said Monday that authorities do not have a timeline for her release and she remains under police guard.

       Jeremiah Perry is scheduled for a Tuesday court appearance for an update on his attempts to hire an attorney. He remains in the Lake County Jail where he is being held in lieu of $3 million bail.

       The fact that a cold shower allegedly was used as punishment drew comparisons with the 2019 death of Andrew “AJ” Freund, 5, of Crystal Lake, whose parents later were convicted of causing his death.

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