COOK COUNTY CRIMINAL COURTHOUSE — A West Pullman man was denied bail Thursday following allegations he fatally beat his 3-year-old son and choked his pregnant fiancee.
Devon Thomas, 22, is charged with first-degree murder and aggravated battery to a pregnant woman.
According to prosecutors, Thomas repeatedly punched 3-year-old Tayveon Thomas on Saturday. It's not clear why he attacked the boy.
When Tayveon's mother tried to intervene, authorities said, Thomas choked the woman until she lost consciousness. The mother, 23, was eight months pregnant at the time, Assistant State's Attorney Holly Grosshans said during a bond hearing Thursday.
Tayveon complained of an upset stomach Sunday, prosecutors said, so his mother gave him generic Pepto-Bismol.
When she entered Tayveon's bedroom Monday to give the boy more medicine, Grosshans said, the woman found Thomas attacking Tayveon once more. According to prosecutors, Thomas punched Tayveon multiple times in his chest and torso and stomped on the boy while wearing boots — striking Tayveon's legs, arms and body.
The mother tried to intervene, prosecutors said, and Thomas hit her so hard that she flew into a nearby wall. The woman fell to the floor, and Thomas dragged her by her ponytail into another room, Grosshans said.
The couple argued, and when the mother returned to Tayveon's room, she found him laying face-down and unresponsive, according to prosecutors. Both parents tried to perform CPR, and Thomas called 911.
Tayveon was pronounced dead at Roseland Community Hospital at 1:15 p.m. Monday.
A few hours later, Grosshans said, Tayveron's mother felt pain and delivered her baby prematurely.
In a videotaped statement, Thomas admitted to punching Tayveon four times in the chest and kicking him once in the stomach, prosecutors said.
An examination of the boy's body revealed evidence of child abuse, including fresh cuts to his face and scalp, abdominal interior bleeding, lung contusions, burn marks and an old fracture to his left arm, according to Grosshans.
Cook County Judge Laura Sullivan on Thursday ordered Thomas, of the 12200 block of South Green Street, held without bail.
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