LAWRENCE CO.—A young couple, said to originally be from Franklin County but most recently living in Sumner, remain in Lawrence County’s jail pending preliminary hearings in their cases which are related to the serious battery of their three-month-old son.
Joseph C. Armes, 22, and his girlfriend (some accounts have her listed as a spouse) Ashley D. Brotherton, also 22, were arrested in early February and each charged with one count of Aggravated Battery against their baby, identified only by the initials JCA, on January 30.
The case came to light when JCA was taken, by his parents, to the emergency room of Lawrence Memorial Hospital on that Thursday, unresponsive.
When it was determined that the baby had a fractured skull, he was rushed to Riley Children’s Hospital, and the investigation into his parents was begun.
Authorities learned that the baby had been the victim of alleged significant abuse, and Armes was subsequently charged with Aggravated Battery causing Great Bodily Damage to a Child under the age of 13, in that on Jan. 30, Armes is said to have shaken the baby, and threw him on a bed, causing the baby to bounce off and strike a dresser and a television, thus causing the fractured skull, as well as broken ribs.
Brotherton was charged with Aggravated Battery Causing Great Bodily Harm to a Child under 13 in that she is alleged to have struck JCA, causing fractured ribs. Brotherton’s charge differed from Armes’ in that it’s alleged that at some point in time between Jan. 20 and Jan. 30, she caused the injuries to the baby’s ribs, meaning that medical authorities believed that the baby had been suffering for at least ten days before the parents bothered to get him medical help.
Both counts are Class X felonies.
Armes was jailed immediately and brought before the court for a probable cause hearing the next day (January 31), where his bail was set at $700,000 ($70,000 cash).
An arrest warrant was not issued for Brotherton until February 3, following further investigation into the case. She was arrested on Feb. 4, and is being held under the same amount of bond.
But the story didn’t stop there.
During the course of the investigation, authorities, working their way through the residence the two shared at 230 W. Cedar Lot 3 in Sumner, also interviewed a third party, a man who was residing with the couple at the location, James E. Choate III, 24.
During the course of this investigation into the abuse of the baby, Sumner police and Illinois State Police investigators literally stumbled upon information that there were allegations of abuse against the Armes/Brotherton couple’s other child, a little girl…and the allegations of abuse were sexual in nature.
Choate was subsequently arrested and, on February 3, he too was charged: with Predatory Criminal Sexual Assault of a child, in which it’s alleged that he committed an act of sexual penetration with SS, a child under the age of 13 (the exact age was not given) in that he digitally penetrated her vagina and forced her to touch his penis. This, too, is a Class X felony.
Choate’s bail, as in the cases of the other two, was also set at $700,000 ($70,000 cash).
The little girl in question was removed from the home to protective custody upon investigation of the incident involving the infant, as is customary to have happen in these cases.
All three defendants were set to have preliminary hearings on Feb. 26. All three have requested public defenders, and those were being assigned as of press time (Feb. 14 for this article).
The condition of the infant as of press time was unavailable, but at the time of his transfer to Riley at the end of January, his condition was described as serious.
Authorities would not state what kind of protective custody the little girl was placed in; whether it was a local foster family, or relatives in Franklin County, remained unknown as of press time.