Grand Jury Indicts Joliet Man for Murdering Mother, Adds New Charges

A Joliet man charged with dumping his mother into the Des Plaines River after strangling her and hammering a knife into her body with a baseball bat now faces additional charges.

An indictment filed Thursday in Will County court against 21-year-old Charles McCullum includes two counts of aggravated battery on top of the murder and concealing a homicide charges he already faced.

McCullum is scheduled to be arraigned Friday morning.

A prosecutor said McCullum killed his 54-year-old mother, Jeanie Parker, after she "upset" him last month.

The upset McCullum strangled Parker, said Assistant State's Attorney Peter Wilkes, and left her for dead in the Fifth Avenue apartment they shared.

When McCullum returned he realized his mother was still alive, Wilkes said, so he stuck a knife into her body. Only the blade bent inside her, so McCullum allegedly grabbed another knife and stabbed Parker repeatedly.

Believing that he still hadn't finished his mother off, McCullum got his hands on a baseball bat and used it to pound the knife into Parker's body until its handle broke, Wilkes said.

McCullum then dragged his mother downstairs and out to her car, Wilkes said. He drove over the river to the west side and dumped Parker in the water south of the Jefferson Street bridge, police said.

The cops—who were contacted by a distressed neighbor—followed a blood trail from the garage up to the apartment, where they found the floors and walls inside covered in blood as well, Wilkes said. The police reportedly apprehended McCullum while he was driving on the west side.

McCullum related the gory story to detectives after he was taken into custody, Wilkes said.

Despite numerous water searches, Parker's body remains missing. Joliet police Cmdr. Brian Benton said the fire department searches at least once a day and tries for a second daily search. Firefighters have dragged the river and have also sent divers below the surface, Benton said.

The searches will continue through the week and into the weekend, after which time the operation will be re-evaluated, Benton said.

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