LANSING, Ill. (AP) - A father of a 2-year-old suburban Chicago girl is facing a first-degree murder charge for the girl’s death.
Twenty-one-year-old Jeremiah Thompson was arrested Saturday after he was charged with killing Jahariah (jah-ah-RYE’-ah) Patterson.
The toddler was found dead in a suburban Chicago home in Lansing on Wednesday. An autopsy shows she died from multiple blunt force injuries and child abuse.
It wasn’t immediately clear if Thompson had a lawyer.
A spokeswoman for the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services says Thompson was investigated twice for abuse allegations in the past year.
A candlelight vigil for Patterson is planned for Sunday evening.
Lansing is about 20 miles south of Chicago, near the Indiana state line.
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