An Illinois woman has been arrested after her 10-year-old son was found dead in a garbage can last week.
Rock Island Police began the investigation on July 26 when 10-year-old Zion Staples was found dead in a garbage can in his mother’s garage, KAAL reported. The boy’s body had been there for seven months, investigators said.
An autopsy was conducted on Friday, and Rock Island County Coroner Brian Gustafson said preliminary results showed the death to be “suspicious and not natural.”
Zion’s mother, Sushi M. Staples, was arrested and charged with concealment of a death, obstruction of justice, and failure to report the death of a child. Staples, 37, is being held on a $500,000 bond. A preliminary hearing is set for August 15.
A neighbor, who asked not to be identified, said she wonders what led police to search in the garage.
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“I had a dead raccoon in my backyard, and we put it in a garbage can, I mean, in a garbage bag and then put it in a garbage can. And I couldn’t even stand the smell waiting for garbage day,” the neighbor said. “So I can’t imagine, that with the wind directions, that nobody would smell that.”
Police released no further information, saying the investigation was still under way.
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[Featured image: Sushi Staples/Rock Island County Jail]
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