Elkville man sentenced in toddler's murder
Jackson County State's Attorney Michael Carr says an Elkville man Tuesday was sentenced to serve 80 years in the Illinois Department of Corrections after being found guilty of first degree murder. He must serve 100 percent of the sentence, followed by a three year period of mandatory supervised release. In addition, he is required to register in the Illinois Murderer and Violent Offenders Against Youth Registry.
Jarrod W. Rudder, 27, formerly from Michigan, was convicted of murder on June 22, 2015, by a jury in Jackson County. After hearing testimony and viewing evidence presented during a week-long trial, the jury returned a verdict of guilty rejecting a lesser charge of involuntary manslaughter.
The evidence showed that on April 20, 2012, just before midnight, the Jackson County Sheriff's Department received a 911 call from Rudder to report a two-year-old child being unresponsive. He reported that the child fell in the bathtub of the Elkville residence. An Elkville police officer arrived on-scene and immediately recognized that the child was suffering symptoms consistent with a closed-head injury. The victim was transported to Carbondale Memorial Hospital and later air lifted to St. Louis Children's Hospital.
Upon arrival at St. Louis Children's Hospital, doctors became concerned with the number of bruises on the child's body. Child abuse pediatricians became involved with the victim's care. The victim was also suffering from major brain swelling, and his condition was critical.
Detectives with the Jackson County Sheriff's Department began investigating and learned that the victim's mother had been at work, and the child was left in the care of the defendant, who was dating the mother. The defendant gave several conflicting accounts about what had happened to the victim. During the investigation, however, the defendant admitted that he had grabbed the victim by the arm, swung him around off of a couch, and the child struck a wall in the residence.
The victim died at St. Louis Children's Hospital on April 22, 2012. During an autopsy, it was discovered that the victim suffered diffuse axonal injury to nerves in his brain, which is caused by extreme acceleration and deceleration forces. The victim also suffered eight lateral rib fractures and severe hemorrhaging deep within his abdominal cavity.
The pathologist and child abuse pediatricians testified that the child would have suffered immediate symptoms as a result of these injuries. Medical experts testified that these injuries were not the result of a fall from the bathtub or a ground level fall. The medical experts determined that these injuries were consistent with abuse and inflicted trauma. Many witnesses testified during the trial that the victim was not injured prior to the mother leaving for work, stating that the victim was walking, talking and running without any noticeable issues.
The investigation was conducted by the Jackson County Sheriff's Department, with assistance from the St. Louis City Medical Examiner's Office, the St. Louis Children's Hospital's Child Protection Program, and the Elkville Police Department. Assistant State's Attorney Casey Bloodworth was responsible for the prosecution of this case.