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Prosecutors filed murder charges Monday against a couple after a 3-year-old girl died days later at a Chicago children’s hospital.
The girl’s mother, Tiarra Glenn, 28, of Gary and her boyfriend Devan L. Allen, 29, of East Chicago, were already charged since April 14 with several other neglect and battery felonies.
Glenn was arrested Thursday, while Allen is not in custody.
As murder charges were added, both are ordered to be held without bond. Their prior bail was set at $8,000 cash surety each.
The child, Xoey Glenn, 3, was pronounced dead just before 11 a.m. Friday at the University of Chicago’s Comer Children’s Hospital, according to the Cook County medical examiner’s office.
Gary Police were called at 11:20 a.m. April 12 to an apartment on the 300 block of Clark Road where the girl was unconscious, but breathing in the living room of a basement apartment. She was only wearing shorts, charges stated.
Paramedics asked if anyone tried performing CPR.
“No, I think she’s breathing,” Glenn said, according to the probable cause affidavit.
An officer put his hand on the child’s stomach and realized she was unconscious, but still alive.
Glenn told police during two interviews on April 12 and 13 that she was three months pregnant and suffered from rheumatoid arthritis, making her very tired. She struggled to care for her children and let Allen beat the child that morning when they felt she misbehaved, charges state.
The child “didn’t listen” and “cried a lot,” she said. In the past, Glenn, her mother, brothers or Allen would often hit the girl with a belt, who “spent most of her life in the corner.”
That morning, Allen was still upset with the girl because she had misbehaved the day prior and hadn’t finished her dinner, saying her stomach hurt, documents state.
Allen told her to stand in the corner and make an “X” with her arms on the wall. The girl started crying “hysterically” saying she didn’t want to, Glenn said, according to court documents. She couldn’t take the child’s crying anymore and went to the living room.
Allen was “super frustrated” around 8:20 a.m. and started to “whoop” the girl with a Michael Kors belt, she said.
She couldn’t really see what was happening, but heard the child as Allen was going back and forth from the living room to the closet with a belt, she said.
Then, Allen carried the girl out who was “hyperventilating” and “wouldn’t calm down enough” to drink water, charges state. He had tied the child’s hands behind her back and tied a black scarf over her face, charges state.
After they pulled up the scarf and made her drink some water, Allen took the child back to the bedroom closet where he beat her some more, documents state.
Glenn heard a “loud thump,” she said, according to court documents.
Allen carried the child back, now shirtless, who was “limp” with eyes open and “staring into space,” and gasping for air, the affidavit states. She had urinated and defecated on herself, documents state.
The couple changed her clothes, cleaned up the apartment. Twenty minutes later, she Googled “hyperventilation” and followed the online instructions to call 911, charges state.
EMTs saw immediate signs of child abuse, documents state.
Doctors at Methodist Hospitals Northlake campus in Gary told police the girl was abused “from head to toe,” with a bite mark on her abdomen, a three finger-shaped chest bruise, belt marks on her legs, thighs, buttocks, bloody lips, neck redness, bruises on her forehead and feet and armpit redness, court documents said.
The girl was airlifted to the University of Chicago with a life-threatening brain injury from a lack of oxygen, the affidavit states. She was taken to the emergency room so doctors could surgically open her skull. The child had “significant brain swelling,” charges state.
Glenn’s 5-year-old daughter was in the apartment at the time, charges state.
Her sister slept on the floor, because she didn’t have a bed, the older child said, according to court documents. The older child told police that her sister was crying so loudly while being beaten, she went into another room and put on a movie, charges state.
Once the girl was transported by ambulance she knew she “didn’t have a sister anymore,” according to court documents. All her sister had to do was “not misbehave,” the child told officers.
Thank you for supporting our journalism. This article is available exclusively for our subscribers, who help fund our work at the Chicago Tribune. Prosecutors filed murder charges Monday against a couple after a 3-year-old girl died days later at a Chicago children’s hospital. The girl’s mother, Tiarra Glenn, 28, of Gary and her boyfriend Devan L. Allen, 29, of East Chicago, were already charged since April 14 with several other neglect and battery felonies. Glenn was arrested Thursday, while Allen is not in custody. As murder charges were added, both are ordered to be held without bond. Their prior bail was set at $8,000 cash surety each. The child, Xoey Glenn, 3, was pronounced dead just before 11 a.m. Friday at the University of Chicago’s Comer Children’s Hospital, according to the Cook County medical examiner’s office. Gary Police were called at 11:20 a.m. April 12 to an apartment on the 300 block of Clark Road where the girl was unconscious, but breathing in the living room of a basement apartment. She was only wearing shorts, charges stated. Paramedics asked if anyone tried performing CPR. “No, I think she’s breathing,” Glenn said, according to the probable cause affidavit. An officer put his hand on the child’s stomach and realized she was unconscious, but still alive. Glenn told police during two interviews on April 12 and 13 that she was three months pregnant and suffered from rheumatoid arthritis, making her very tired. She struggled to care for her children and let Allen beat the child that morning when they felt she misbehaved, charges state. The child “didn’t listen” and “cried a lot,” she said. In the past, Glenn, her mother, brothers or Allen would often hit the girl with a belt, who “spent most of her life in the corner.” That morning, Allen was still upset with the girl because she had misbehaved the day prior and hadn’t finished her dinner, saying her stomach hurt, documents state. Allen told her to stand in the corner and make an “X” with her arms on the wall. The girl started crying “hysterically” saying she didn’t want to, Glenn said, according to court documents. She couldn’t take the child’s crying anymore and went to the living room. Allen was “super frustrated” around 8:20 a.m. and started to “whoop” the girl with a Michael Kors belt, she said. She couldn’t really see what was happening, but heard the child as Allen was going back and forth from the living room to the closet with a belt, she said. Then, Allen carried the girl out who was “hyperventilating” and “wouldn’t calm down enough” to drink water, charges state. He had tied the child’s hands behind her back and tied a black scarf over her face, charges state. After they pulled up the scarf and made her drink some water, Allen took the child back to the bedroom closet where he beat her some more, documents state. Glenn heard a “loud thump,” she said, according to court documents. Allen carried the child back, now shirtless, who was “limp” with eyes open and “staring into space,” and gasping for air, the affidavit states. She had urinated and defecated on herself, documents state. The couple changed her clothes, cleaned up the apartment. Twenty minutes later, she Googled “hyperventilation” and followed the online instructions to call 911, charges state. EMTs saw immediate signs of child abuse, documents state. Doctors at Methodist Hospitals Northlake campus in Gary told police the girl was abused “from head to toe,” with a bite mark on her abdomen, a three finger-shaped chest bruise, belt marks on her legs, thighs, buttocks, bloody lips, neck redness, bruises on her forehead and feet and armpit redness, court documents said. The girl was airlifted to the University of Chicago with a life-threatening brain injury from a lack of oxygen, the affidavit states. She was taken to the emergency room so doctors could surgically open her skull. The child had “significant brain swelling,” charges state. Glenn’s 5-year-old daughter was in the apartment at the time, charges state. Her sister slept on the floor, because she didn’t have a bed, the older child said, according to court documents. The older child told police that her sister was crying so loudly while being beaten, she went into another room and put on a movie, charges state. Once the girl was transported by ambulance she knew she “didn’t have a sister anymore,” according to court documents. All her sister had to do was “not misbehave,” the child told officers.