Autopsy Report For 6-Year-Old Damari Perry Reveals He Died Of Hypothermia With Partially Frozen Organs

Six-year-old Damari Perry of North Chicago, whose mother and siblings have been charged in connection to his murder, died of hypothermia with partially frozen internal organs, according to the Lake County Coroner’s Office in Indiana.

Damari’s death has been ruled a homicide. His body was discovered in an alley in Gary, Indiana over the weekend after his family reported him missing.

“The decedent was found naked and wrapped in a plastic trash bag and partially charred,” the Indiana coroner’s office said, according to the Chicago Tribune.

The burns occurred after his death. One of his legs showed signs of bruising, according to the coroner’s report.

Damari’s mother, Jannie M. Perry, 38, has been charged with first-degree murder, and his brother, Jemeriah R. Perry, 20, has been charged with aggravated battery on a child, concealing a homicide and obstruction of justice. He’s being held on a $3 million bond.

Another sibling has also been charged, but neither details nor the identity has been released because the suspect is a minor.

Damari was reported missing on Jan. 5.

Prosecutors said Sunday that Damari “did something to upset family” on Dec. 29 and was put in a cold shower for punishment, according to the Chicago Tribune.

He was allegedly forced to stay in the shower for an extended period of time and was removed sometime after vomiting and later died.

Prosecutors said Damari’s mother, brother and another sibling discussed how to get rid of the body before taking him to Indiana, according to WLS.

The family initially told FBI agents that a man and woman drove the boy and his 16-year-old sister to a party in the Skokie area. His sister told investigators that after several drinks she fell asleep at the party. When she woke up, Damari and the man were gone, according to WMAQ.

Investigators later determined that was “completely false,” according to the Chicago TV station.

"Why would a person hurt a child, my child at that," Perry's father Dalvin Driver told WLS. "(It's) been like a nightmare that ended yesterday when they told me my son wasn't coming home."

That station also reporting that the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services removed Jannie M. Perry’s children from her home in 2014 after a domestic violence investigation. After his birth, in December of 2015, Damari was placed in foster care, which was done because other children had already been removed from Perry’s home.

Perry regained custody of her children in 2017.

Prosecutors said more charges could be filed, according to WLS.