Sterling Estates woman charged in death of 19-month-old son

By Bob Bong

A woman from unincorporated Sterling Estates in Justice was charged with first-degree murder and child endangerment stemming from an incident involving her 19-month-old son that started in October, Sheriff Thomas J. Dart announced Thursday.

On Oct. 17, Sheriff’s Police responded to a residence in the 800 block of Victory Lane in unincorporated Sterling Estates after being notified that a child was found deceased in the home.

During the investigation, detectives learned that Jamie Hannion, 22, left her son — identified in court as Nathan Wisdom — in the care of her sister, who discovered the boy and alerted police. The child was severely malnourished and unresponsive in his crib and rigor mortis appeared to have set in. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

The Cook County Medical Examiner’s office ruled his death was a homicide due to nutritional neglect. Court records indicated Nathan weighed less than 10 pounds.

Prosecutors said Wisdom was in the hospital for at least five days in September because of his failure to thrive, child neglect, developmental delay and poor weight gain.

On Feb. 26, Sheriff’s Police attempted to arrest Hannion but learned she was visiting family in Tennessee.

An arrest warrant was issued on Feb. 28, and on March 7, Hannion was arrested in Tennessee by the FBI Fugitive Task Force. She waived extradition and was returned to Cook County on Thursday by Sheriff’s Police.

Hannion was charged with one count of first-degree murder and one count of felony endangering the life and health of a child resulting in death.

She was ordered held without bail. Her next scheduled court date is April 20 at the Bridgeview Courthouse.

This story has been updated.