The mother of the 6-month old boy found dead near Carrollton Wednesday afternoon is now charged with two counts of first degree murder as well as concealing a homicidal death.
22 year old Jamia Ellis, of Alton, was arrested Wednesday after police officers had been investigating an apparent missing persons alert for both Ellis and her 6-month old boy. When Ellis was found alive, police began suspecting where the boy was. The investigation led them eventually to a house in the 100 block of Cemetery Lane in Carrollton, where police say a male acquaintance of Ellis lived. Ellis had reportedly stayed with him on several occasions.
Illinois State Police apparently told a number of news outlets that Ellis “knowingly and without legal justification caused blunt force trauma” to the infant knowing it could cause his death. After the 6-month-old died, Ellis allegedly concealed the death by placing the boy in a sheet, then into a trash bag and burying the boy in a wooded area east of Carrollton.
Police on Wednesday also arrested 34 year old Ryan Wheeler, the Carrollton native and resident of the house in question in the 100 block of Cemetery Lane. Wheeler has since been charged with one count of concealing a homicidal death due to an alleged knowledge of the infant being dead when Ellis brought the boy to him to be buried.
Bond has been set for Jamia Ellis in the amount of one and a half million dollars, while bond for Ryan Wheeler is set at $750,000. A preliminary hearing has been set for both Ellis and Wheeler on Friday, December 21st at 11 a.m. According to current Greene County Court records, Ellis will be represented in this matter by Pike County Public Defender Keisha Morris. Records say Seventh Circuit Judge James Day has been selected to preside over this case.