ROCK ISLAND COUNTY, Ill. — The attorney for the woman accused of concealing the death of her 10-year-old son in a trash can has withdrawn from the case, according to court documents.
Sushi Staples, 38, will now have a public defender assigned to her case after defense attorney William Wolf's motion to withdraw was allowed.
Back on Oct. 27 during a pretrial hearing, Wolf filed a motion for release under Illinois' new SAFE-T Act, but that was neither approved nor denied during Staples' hearing on Thursday, Nov. 2. Staples was also ordered to have a psychiatric evaluation back at the October hearing.
Staples is set to appear in court again on Tuesday, Nov. 7 at 1:30 p.m.
Case background:
On Wednesday, July 26, around 9:30 a.m., Rock Island Police began an investigation into a suspicious death in the 1700 block of 20 1/2 Avenue.
Rock Island County coroner Brian Gustafson confirmed the victim was identified as Zion Staples, a 10-year-old boy, from Rock Island.
News 8 spoke with a neighbor back in July, who couldn't believe this happened across the street from her.
"I've lost sleep over it, and I've prayed a lot," the neighbor who wished to go by Deb only said. "I have to believe that she has done some extra measures to cover up that smell, otherwise nobody could have stood that, nobody."
An autopsy was performed on Friday, July 28, in Rockford. According to Gustafson, the preliminary results showed the death was "considered suspicious and not natural."
On July 26, Sushi M. Staples, then 37, was taken into custody and charged with concealment of a death, obstruction of justice, and failure to report the death of a child.
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