A northwestern Illinois father and his girlfriend have been charged in connection with the fatal beating of his 9-year-old son, who was visiting the western Illinois city from Forest Park when he was killed in July 2018, authorities said.
Robert Davidson, 32, and Antoinette Fane, 35, of Rockford, were arrested, issued bonds and jailed, The (Freeport) Journal-Standard reported. Davidson was charged with murder, battery, endangering the life of a child and obstruction of justice, and Fane with endangering the life of a child and obstruction, according to a news release from Freeport police.
It wasn’t immediately clear if they had attorneys.
An autopsy determined Robert De’Yahre Davidson died in July 2018 of multiple blunt-force injuries and cardiac arrhythmia due to dehydration. His injuries included welts and bruises to his thighs, back, shoulders and arms, including injuries consistent with his being hit with a belt, investigators said.
The boy lived in Forest Park and was visiting his father in Freeport when he died. Police were called to the home July 15, 2018, after a neighbor reported possible domestic violence and a child crying. Police called to their home said Davidson and Fane denied any wrongdoing, showed officers two other, unharmed children, ages 11 and 13, and refused to allow them into their home.
Emergency crews returned the next day after receiving a 911 call regarding a child not breathing and found the boy unresponsive. He was taken to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
The FBI and local authorities arrested Davidson in Rockford and Fane in Byron, Illinois, on Tuesday, according to a Freeport Police news release.
The case took 18 months because investigators “didn’t want to bring a case hastily into court without having clear answers to all of the questions,” Freeport Police Lt. Andy Schroeder said.
The Chicago Tribune’s Liam Ford contributed.
