CHICAGO – A mother is left trying to figure out how her son died and still has no answers. The 23-year-old was in custody at Stateville Correctional Facility when he died, but how it happened is still a mystery.
What we know:
Latina Perry says her son Donte Everton Jr. wasn’t perfect. This time, he was back behind bars in September and was supposed to be out on Oct. 6, but now that won’t happen.
“He was strangled. It’s indentations, and it’s bruising around his neck,” Perry said, referring to how her son’s body appears. “There are no marks on his face. He looks good. He looks just the same – my same moody face.”
In images Perry shared, it appears that something was around her son’s neck.
Perry received a text message on Oct. 1 informing her of her son’s death on Sept. 30. Perry says it is the only direct communication she received saying her son had died.
The day before, the Will County Coroner’s Office called Everton’s 20-year-old brother and told him his brother had died.
Perry says she went to the coroner’s office but was denied access to see her son’s body. It wasn’t until Friday at Leaks and Sons’ Funeral Home that she finally saw him for the first time.
Everton had been incarcerated as a parolee on a separate gun-related case at Stateville Correctional Facility.
Perry also shared that her son had problems with his cellmate, citing that the cellmate had untreated mental health issues.
“This didn’t have to happen to him,” Perry said. “And the way it happened, and he’s just laying there for 12 hours. I’m getting word that he was there for 12 hours because no one did their check but also the cellmate took his food tray and emptied his food. This is all over juice. Six-foot-five-three, 150lb schizophrenic rapist. And I feel for anybody that has lost a child. This is this is a horrible feeling and I can’t even describe what I’m feeling. I just watched my son be pulled out of a bag.”
Perry says she got her information from people who work inside the correctional facility and other inmates.
Everton leaves behind a 5-year-old daughter and a baby that is on the way.
The family is holding funeral services and is getting an independent autopsy. The Will County Coroner says the cause and manner of death have not yet been determined.
Fox 32 has not received a response from the Illinois Department of Corrections.
The Source: This story contains reporting from Fox 32’s Tia Ewing.
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