Southern Illinois woman cleared in infant son’s death now faces firearms charges
A Pinckneyville woman who had first-degree murder charges dismissed last month in the death of her infant son’s death now faces two firearms charges in a new case.
Sophia Kelly, 22, was charged Tuesday with misdemeanor possession of a firearm and possession of ammunition while not having a Firearm Owner’s Identification Card, according to Marion County court records.
Kelly and two men were arrested in connection with the firearms charges in Central City following a traffic stop on Tuesday, according to a report by radio station WJBD.
Kelly and Logan Hutchings, 22, also of Pinckneyville, were charged with three counts of first-degree murder last year in the death of their 4-month-old son, Ocean Hutchings in June 2022.
But Kelly’s murder charges were dropped after Judge Gene Gross acquitted Logan Hutchings of all charges in a bench trial last month.
Jennifer Mudge, a special prosecutor from the Illinois Office of the State’s Attorneys Appellate Prosecutor, said Wednesday she filed the motion to have Kelly’s murder charges dismissed because the evidence in Logan Hutchings’ trial showed that he “committed the final act” that caused Ocean Hutchings’ death.
Judge James Campanella dismissed Kelly’s charges on March 28.
Matthew Benson, a DuQuoin attorney who represented Logan Hutchings, said in a statement after the bench trial that his client “maintained his innocence from the first time he came into my office.”
Judge James Campanella dismissed Kelly’s charges on March 28. Matt Foster, a DuQuoin attorney appointed to represent Kelly on the murder charges, declined to comment.
Two expert witnesses testified that Ocean Hutchings suffered injuries that were not possible to have been self-inflicted by a child of his age, according to a report by the County Journal newspaper.
The child had a brain hemorrhage and three broken ribs that appeared to have been sustained at different times, the newspaper reported.
Ocean died on June 14, 2022, in Cardinal Glennon Children’s Hospital in St. Louis, according to his obituary.
Illinois State Police was contacted by the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services and Pinckneyville Police to investigate boy’s injuries in 2022. The murder charges were filed in April 2023.
Police originally said Ocean was 3 months old at the time of his death but his obituary shows he had just turned 4 months old.
Ocean was born on Feb. 13, 2022, in Carbondale and liked Hey Bear sensory videos, his obituary states.
In the latest case against Kelly, records show that she will be represented by Salem attorney Matthew Wilzbach.
Wilzbach said Wednesday he had not yet received his assignment from the court and he could not comment on Kelly’s charges. He is a private practice attorney but gets assigned cases when the public defenders in Marion County need assistance.
Kelly has been released from the Marion County Jail on the firearms charges, according to the sheriff’s office.
