10-year-old shot to death, left in trash can for 8 months, cops say. Mom now charged

A boy’s body was found stuffed inside a trash can, leading to the arrest of his mother, Illinois police said in multiple media reports.

The gruesome discovery came after an anonymous caller requested that the state’s Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) conduct a wellness check on a child on July 25, a spokesperson for the agency told McClatchy News in an email.

“Out of genuine concern and based on what the caller reported,” the hotline employee, in addition to referring the reporter to local authorities, “made a call directly to law enforcement to ensure that a report was filed,” the spokesperson said.

The next day, while conducting a wellness check at the home of Sushi Staples, Rock Island police found the body of her 10-year-old son inside a trash can in the garage, according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

Staples, 37, was arrested later that day, according to the outlet, citing police.

An attorney for Staples could not immediately be reached for comment by McClatchy News.

Investigators later determined her son, Zion, died in December and had been stashed in the garbage for eight months, according to KWQC.

Zion died from a gunshot wound, Rock Island County Coroner Brian Gustafson told McClatchy News.

When questioned by officers, Staples denied having a son and lied about his whereabouts, according to KWQC, citing a criminal complaint.

She has been charged with obstruction of justice, concealment of death and failure to report the death of a child, according to WQAD.

“It is always a profound tragedy when the life of a child is lost, and our thoughts go out to Zion Staples,” the DCFS spokesperson said.

Rock Hill is about 170 miles west of Chicago and sits on the Illinois-Iowa border.

This story was originally published August 14, 2023 at 10:46 AM with the headline "10-year-old shot to death, left in trash can for 8 months, cops say. Mom now charged."