COOK COUNTY CRIMINAL COURTHOUSE — A Little Village man fatally beat his 3-year-old daughter with a belt after she refused to eat Saturday, prosecutors said.
"I can only hope that justice is swift and sure in this case," Cook County Judge Adam Bourgeois Jr. told the girl's father, Eduardo Aleman, who appeared in bond court Tuesday on charges of first-degree murder. "No bail."
Aleman was alone with 3-year-old Jazebel this weekend when he "severely and repeatedly" beat the girl to death in the family's kitchen in the 2500 block of South Homan Avenue, according to Assistant State's Attorney Jillian Anselmo.
The girl was alive about 10 p.m. Saturday when Aleman's live-in girlfriend, who is not the mother of his two children, stormed out of the couple's home with Aleman's 5-year-old daughter after a heated argument, Anselmo said.
The girlfriend left behind Jazebel because she was being punished for not eating, according to prosecutors. It is not clear what the punishment entailed.
Police responding to a 911 call from Aleman about 1 a.m. Sunday found Jazebel dead and naked on the bathroom floor, prosecutors said. Her skin was bluish gray; her entire body was covered in bruises.
Aleman initially claimed he found Jazebel that way — but later confessed to beating her with a belt until "she stopped reacting to his beating," Anselmo said.
Aleman told police he tried to revive his daughter by splashing water on her face.
Jazebel's mother, who is also the mother of Aleman's 5-year-old daughter, told authorities she last saw her girl three weeks ago and "made several attempts" to get her children back, prosecutors said.
Jazebel was underweight but in good health during a check-up several weeks ago, Anselmo said.
An autopsy revealed Jazebel had broken ribs, a contusion to her left lung, a ruptured small intestine, an injured pancreas and hemorrhaged skin, according to the Cook County Medical Examiner's Office. The girl also suffered external bruises on her face, back, arms, hips and chest.
Aleman was previously convicted of aggravated DUI, burglary, drug possession, domestic battery and reckless conduct, prosecutors said.
In the domestic-battery case, Aleman punched and choked the live-in girlfriend who left his apartment Saturday night.
