Police: North suburban woman killed son, took body on train to Chicago

A north suburban woman killed her 6-year-old son last summer, according to police, then got on a train with the dead boy and another child to visit relatives in Chicago, who noticed the child was not breathing.

Jamie L. Jones, 29, was charged Monday with two counts of first-degree murder and one count of concealment of a homicidal death, according to Round Lake Beach police.

On July 1, Jones “caused injuries” to her son, Carl Rice, at their Round Lake Beach home, resulting in the boy’s death, police and the Cook County medical examiner’s office said. Jones then took Carl and her other child on a train to visit relatives in Chicago.

While in Chicago, family members noticed Rice was not breathing and called 911, but paramedics were unsuccessful in their attempts to revive the child, according to Round Lake Beach and Chicago police.

Carl was pronounced dead at the scene, the medical examiner’s office said. An autopsy did not initially rule on cause or manner of death, with results pending further studies.

But on Friday, the medical examiner’s office said the boy died of multiple injuries caused by child abuse, and ruled his death a homicide.

Detectives arrested Jones on Saturday on a Lake County warrant for failure to appear for a battery charge, Round Lake Beach police said. She was taken into custody for the warrant and held until she was charged Monday with Carl’s murder.

Rice was ordered held on a $3 million bond in court Tuesday, according to the Lake County state’s attorney’s office. She is next scheduled to appear in court at 10:30 a.m. on Nov. 30.

The Illinois Department of Children and Family Services was investigating the boy’s death, a spokeswoman said at the time. DCFS had not had prior contact with the child or his family.