Father of 2-Year-Old Lansing Girl Accused of Abusing Her to Death

The 2-year-old girl who died in her Lansing home Wednesday sustained "multiple blunt force injuries from child abuse," the Cook County Medical Examiner ruled — and on Saturday her father was arrested and charged with murder.

The father, Jeremiah Thompson, 21, told police he found the child unconscious. He appeared in court Saturday afternoon and his being held without bail.

Paramedics responded to a medical emergency in the 17900 block of Wildwood Avenue on Wednesday around 2 p.m. and found the child, Jahariah Patterson, unresponsive, according to a news release from the Village of Lansing. She was pronounced dead at the scene.

On Saturday, flowers, Teddy bears and balloons were placed near a ribbon-wrapped tree in front of Jahariah Patterson's home. Neighbors said the family kept to itself and few said they even knew a toddler lived in the home.

"Never seen the child, never knew there was a child living there," one neighbor told WGN News.

Lansing Police Department and the South Suburban Major Crimes Task Force conducted a joint investigation. The Illinois Department of Children and Family Services said it investigated two reports of child abuse against Thompson in May and July of 2013. 

NWITimes.com reports that a candlelight vigil will take place in front  of the home at 7 p.m.