Mother arrested after 10-year-old found dead in garbage can at Illinois home, officials say

A mother in northwest Illinois is facing multiple felony charges after police said officers found the body of her 10-year-old son in a trash can at her home during a welfare check.

According to a press release, the Rock Island Police Department launched a probe into a suspicious death case at the home last week.

Just before 9:30 a.m. on July 26, police said, officers responded to the Rock Island house where they found the body of a boy, later identified as Zion Staples, in a garbage can in the home’s garage. The home is located in the city’s Highland Park Historic District near the Iowa state line, just south of the Mississippi River.

Police did not say how the boy died in the release and did not specify what prompted the welfare check.

Later that day, police said, they arrested the boy’s mother, 37-year old Sushi M. Staples, on charges including concealment of death and obstruction of justice.

Staples was taken to the Rock Island County Jail where she was held, pending her first court appearance on the charges, police said.