LOYAL. LOCAL. COMPLETE.
PARIS—Courtney Heath, 37, of Chrisman, has been charged with murder, a Class M felony, in connection with the Sept. 21 death of a Paris two-year-old.
Heath appeared in Edgar County court on Friday, Oct. 16, for a scheduled pretrial conference, where she waived her right to a formal reading of the new charges.
With the new murder charge, Heath and defense attorney Nathanael Harsy requested a preliminary hearing, which was then set for 10:30 a.m. on Friday, Oct. 23. Heath previously waived her rights to a preliminary hearing on Oct. 1, for charges of child endangerment causing death, a Class 3 felony.
The charges stem from an incident that occurred from Sunday, Sept. 20 to Monday, Sept. 21.
According to the prosecution, on Sept. 20, the Paris Police Department responded to a residence located on West Edgar Street for a report of a child having seizures.
First responders arrived on scene and located the child, referred to as “Z.B”., a 23-month-old white female.
Responders observed significant burn injuries to her face, chest, abdomen and back.
Z.B. was transported to Horizon Health Hospital, where she was then pronounced deceased.
Paris Police turned the investigation over to the Illinois State Police (ISP).
During the pair’s initial appearance on Wednesday, Sept. 23, Edgar County State's Attorney Phillip Dobelstein said Heath was aware of the severe burns Z.B. sustained but still failed to seek medical treatment.
“Despite the severity and obvious nature of the injuries, they failed to seek medical treatment or contact emergency services for approximately 32 hours after she sustained the burns, and until ZB’s condition worsened and she became unresponsive,” Dobelstein said.
He added that a preliminary autopsy revealed Z.B. sustained second-degree thermal burns to “approximately 35 percent of Z.B.’s body surface.”
When performing the autopsy on Z.B., Forensic Pathologist Dr. Scott Denton noted sustained severe cerebral edema (swelling of the brain), pulmonary edema (fluid in lungs), soft-tissue edema and petechiae of the thighs (swelling of the thighs).
ISP executed a search warrant on Heath’s residence, where the burns allegedly happened, and located hairs consistent with Z.B.’s hair inside the home’s kitchen oven door.
Heath is expected to be back in court for a preliminary hearing for the added murder charge on Friday, Oct. 23 at 10:30 a.m. After Friday’s hearing, the court remanded her to the custody of the Edgar County Sheriff’s Office.