DANEAH COUSINS - 20 months -(2009) Sauk Village/Phoenix IL

The death of a 20-month-old Sauk Village girl at a home in Phoenix earlier
this week was ruled a homicide after an autopsy today by the Cook
County medical examiner's office.

Daneah Cousins, of the 1600 block of East 223rd Street, was pronounced dead at
10:30 p.m. Wednesday at University of Chicago Comer Children's Hospital.
The medical examiner's office concluded she died from head injuries caused by blunt trauma due to child abuse.
The girl was found in a home in the 700 block of East 155th Court in Phoenix, according to the medical examiner's office.

Phoenix police could not be reached for comment. The state
Department of Children and Family Services is investigating the
incident.

September 24, 2010

A 32-year-old man is being held in lieu of $1 million bail for killing a toddler he was baby-sitting more than a year ago, officials said Thursday.

Melvin S. Johnson of south suburban Phoenix was charged with murder Monday in the Sept. 2, 2009, death of a 20-month-old girl, Daneah Cousins.

The medical examiner's office ruled last year that Daneah died of head injuries she had suffered two days earlier. Her death was attributed to child abuse. A law-enforcement source said it took about a year to bring charges against Johnson partly because investigators were waiting on results from laboratory tests.

At the time she was fatally injured, Johnson was baby-sitting Daneah at a Phoenix home, police said. He was dating her mother, who was at work and lived in south suburban Sauk Village, police said.

Authorities would not provide details of how Daneah died. Last year, relatives told reporters she fell off a 4-foot-high plastic children's slide in the driveway of the Phoenix home.

Johnson is scheduled to appear in court on Oct. 8.
http://www.suntimes.com/news/24-7/2741180,CST-NWS-toddler24.article

Charge in toddler's death

A Phoenix man has been charged with murder for killing a toddler he was baby-sitting more than a year ago in the village.

Melvin S. Johnson, 32, is charged in the Sept. 2, 2009, death of 20-month-old girl Daneah Cousins, who died of head injuries she had suffered two days earlier, authorities said. Her death was attributed to child abuse.

A law enforcement source said it took about a year to bring charges against Johnson partly because investigators were awaiting results from laboratory tests.

At the time the girl was killed, Johnson was dating her mother and was baby-sitting while the mother, who lived in Sauk Village, was at work, police said.

Authorities would not provide details of how Daneah died. Last year, relatives told reporters she fell off a 4-foot-high plastic children's slide in the driveway of the Phoenix home.

http://www.southtownstar.com/news/digest/2743920,092610crimereport.article

Mom Sues Babysitting Facility In Infant’s Child Abuse Death


June 7, 2011 7:26 PM



CHICAGO (STMW) – A south suburban woman filed a wrongful death lawsuit Tuesday against the alleged operator of a babysitting facility where her 20-month-old daughter was abused in 2009.

Amanda Alexander claims Melvin S. Johnson killed her 20-month-old daughter when he hit her Aug. 31, 2009, at Sandra Johnson’s home babysitting and daycare facility at 723 W. 155th Court in Phoenix, according to a suit filed in Cook County Circuit Court. Melvin and Sandra Johnson both lived at the home.

Daneah Cousins, 20 months, of Sauk Village, was pronounced dead at 10:30 p.m. Sept. 2, 2009, at Chicago Comer Children’s Hospital, according to the Cook County Medical Examiner’s office.

An autopsy determined Cousins died of cranio cerebral injuries from blunt head trauma and child abuse, the medical examiner’s office said. The death was ruled a homicide.

Melvin S. Johnson was charged with murder Oct. 11, 2010. He is being held in Cook County Jail on $1 million bond, according to the Cook County Sheriff’s office website. His next scheduled court date is June 22.

A law-enforcement source said it took about a year to bring charges against Johnson partly because investigators were waiting on results from laboratory tests.

At the time she was fatally injured, Melvin S. Johnson was baby-sitting Daneah at the Phoenix home, police said. He was dating her mother, identified in the suit as Amanda Alexander, who was at work and lived in south suburban Sauk Village, police said.

The suit claims Sandra Johnson failed to provide proper supervision for the contact between Melvin S. Johnson and the baby. It also claims she failed to provide prompt and adequate care after Daneah was struck.

The two-count suit is seeking more than $200,000 plus the cost of the suit from Sandra Johnson. Nobody answered the phone at Johnson’s home Tuesday night.



http://chicago.cbslocal.com/2011/06/07/mom-sues-babysitting-facility-in-infants-child-abuse-death/

Next Court Date
08/23/2011
http://www2.cookcountysheriff.org/search2/details.asp?jailnumber=2010-0920047

Next Court Date Court House Location
10/13/2011

http://www2.cookcountysheriff.org/search2/details.asp?jailnumber=2010-0920047

Next Court Date
11/16/2011

http://www2.cookcountysheriff.org/search2/details.asp?jailnumber=2010-0920047

Next Court Date
12/15/2011
http://www2.cookcountysheriff.org/search2/details.asp?jailnumber=2010-0920047

http://www2.cookcountysheriff.org/search2/details.asp?jailnumber=2010-0920047

JOHNSON, MELVIN S, - FIRST DEGREE MURDER:INTENDS DEATH/GREAT HARM

Next Court Date . . . 03/20/2014