Dad Abused Boy Accused Of Killing Little Brother In Joliet: Complaint

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The Will County order of protection noted that Sutphin was ordered to stay away from his then-4-year-old son and the boy’s mother’s house in the 2700 block of Joliet’s Fairway Drive, the same house where Friday night’s deadly stabbing happened.

Joliet Patch is not naming the 6-year-old child because he has not been formally charged with any crime in connection with last week’s slaying. On the other hand, Joliet Patch routinely publishes the names of all homicide victims, regardless of age.

On Tuesday at the Will County Courthouse, Joliet Patch reviewed public records from Sutphin’s case that made it clear there was already involvement with the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services in his son’s life and the boy, even at 4 years old, was already diagnosed by medical staff as having Oppositional Defiant Disorder.

According to the Mayo Clinic, ODD “includes a frequent and ongoing pattern of anger, irritability, arguing and defiance toward parents and other authority figures. ODD also includes being spiteful and seeking revenge, a behavior called vindictiveness.”

Eventually, the emergency order of protection involving Sutphin expired when the child’s mother did not ask Will County’s judges to continue it during the summer of 2022.

As for Sutphin, he has a previous unrelated Will County domestic battery conviction stemming from his 2014 arrest by Crest Hill’s Police Department on November 14, 2014.

In that case, he grabbed a female member of his household, the complaint noted. Sutphin was also charged with criminal damage to property because he destroyed his victim’s phone and obstructing a police officer because he refused to obey a lawful order from Crest Hill police, the court files show. In 2016, Sutphin was sentenced to two days in jail for his domestic battery conviction out of Crest Hill under a plea agreement with prosecutors.

Meanwhile, Sutphin’s 2022 felony aggravated battery case is set for a final plea hearing on Nov. 6 in Courtroom 801. Sutphin originally hired attorney Jack Zaremba as his private defense counsel, but in August 2023, the lawyer withdrew from the case, and Sutphin now has the Will County Public Defender’s Office, court records reflect.

On May 21, 2022, Sutphin’s father, who lives in Aurora, posted 10 percent of his son’s $10,000 bail to free him from the Will County Jail. As a condition of his bond, Eric Sutphin was ordered by a judge to have no contact at all with his minor son or the child’s house on Fairway Drive in Joliet.

Boy, Now, 6, Diagnosed With ODD: Court Records

Around 7 p.m. on May 20, 2022, the boy’s mother notified Will County’s judges, according to court records, that her then-4-year-old son “is currently having behavior issue (sic) at school and daycare, which I informed Mr. Sutphin regarding our son behavior in school. After hang up with Mr. Sutphin, I contacted a family member in my backyard regarding son’s diagnosed ADHD and ODD. I heard a vehicle pull in my driveway.

“That is when I ran in the house and seen Mr. Sutphin spanking our son on the legs and my mother was on top of my son protecting him,” court records reveal. “During the incident, (the boy) hit his head on the corner of the table. The police was then called and Mr. Sutphin was arrested and charged with domestic violence involving a minor.

“DCFS is involved, and they showed up at 11:30 p.m. that evening to talk to me regarding the incident that just happened. DCFS advised to obtain an order of protection for (child’s) safety.”

Court records indicate Sutphin is 6-foot-2 and weighs 220 lbs.

Mother, Grandmother Home During Deadly Stabbing: Source

At the time of last Friday’s early evening stabbing, there were only four people inside the family’s house on Fairway Drive, a source with intimate knowledge of the case told Joliet Patch on the condition of anonymity.

Besides 2-year-old stabbing victim Christopher Urbina and his 6-year-old brother, their mother and grandmother were home. However, the boys’ mother was sleeping at the time. “Mom was sleeping and grandmother was watching them, but she was in a different room,” according to the source. “The mother woke up to check on them and that’s when she found” her 2-year-old had been stabbed.

The source also indicated the stabbing was intentional and the 2-year-old was stabbed at least a few times, the source told Patch.

“They said it was pretty bloody,” the source noted. “It’s definitely treated as a homicide. But because of the age of the child (offender) there is nothing we can do with a 6-year-old.”

As for the fate of the 6-year-old boy, the source was under the belief that the surviving sibling won’t be allowed to attend school in Joliet any time in the future, and the child probably will not be allowed to return to his house on Fairway Drive, where his grandmother and mother have lived for several years now.

More than likely, the 6-year-old will be placed into a psychiatric care treatment facility and kept there for an undetermined amount of time, perhaps several years, the source said.

“I’m thinking inpatient treatment somewhere,” the source advised.

According to Saturday’s news release, at 5:04 p.m. Friday, Joliet’s officers responded to the house in the 2700 block of Fairway Drive for a 2-year-old boy who was stabbed. Officers found the 2-year-old inside his house and he had suffered multiple stab wounds.

Officers immediately rendered medical aid to the child until the arrival of Joliet Fire Department Paramedics. Joliet Fire Department paramedics took the 2-year-old victim to Ascension St Joseph Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead.

Joliet police spokesman Dwayne English said police learned that the 2-year- old child had been stabbed with a kitchen knife by his 6-year-old brother while in the family room. The victim was discovered by his mother, who called 911.

Past Joliet Patch coverage:

Boy, 6, Killed Little Brother In Family’s Living Room: Joliet Police

Child, 2, Stabbed To Death In Joliet By His Brother, Age 6: Police

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