On February 6, 2026, the Round Lake Beach Police Department and the Lake County Major Crimes Task Force conducted an investigation after Round Lake Beach Police responded to a report of an unresponsive child. The child was transported to a local hospital where the child was pronounced deceased. 

At the detention hearing, prosecutors argued that despite the lack of criminal history of both defendants, the evidence shows both defendants engaged in a long-term pattern of mental and physical abuse of the eight-year-old child. They stated the abuse extended beyond the deceased child, noting that a 10-year-old in the home required hospitalization for malnourishment and abuse, while a younger child also lived in the residence.  

Prosecutors emphasized that the offense was not impulsive but occurred over an extended period of time with knowledge and planning. In light of this, prosecutors argued that both defendants were a continuing threat to others and posing significant psychological harm to the surviving children if released.  

The State further argued that no conditions of release could adequately mitigate this danger or prevent access to the defendant’s other children, and therefore detention is necessary to protect the community. 

The court granted the State’s petition to detain both Ruffin and Servant. 

After the detention hearing, Lake County State’s Attorney Eric Rinehart said the following statement:  

“There should be one more eight-year-old child alive in this world today. This horrific death was preventable. In light of the ongoing nature of this investigation, the moral mandate that we secure justice, and the need to hold every responsible party accountable, we will be providing limited information prior to a full presentment of charges to a grand jury. 

Today, the court ordered that both defendants be detained in the Lake County Jail after our office filed First Degree Murder charges on Saturday against Ruffin and Servant. I will say this: if you see signs of a child being abused or malnourished, report it. If you need help as a parent, get it. If you are abusing your child, stop it now.  

Our expanded Domestic Violence Division, our Children’s Advocacy Center, and our entire office is dedicated to protecting children. We will use every resource we have to prevent this type of crime. We will always engage in community education and policy advocacy in Springfield. Once the abuse has happened, the men and women of this office will always be dedicated to fully prosecuting all those who would hurt children.  

I want to thank the Round Lake Beach Police Department, the Lake County Major Crimes Task Force, the Lake County Children’s Advocacy Center, and the prosecutors in my office for their tireless and thorough work so far in this difficult case.  

If you are abusing you child or criminally neglecting their basic needs, and that child dies, you will be prosecuted for murder in Lake County. 

We must do everything we can to make sure this type of slow-motion murder is not happening anywhere, and that it never happens again.” 

Both defendants have a court date scheduled for a preliminary hearing on March 3, 2026, at 1:30 p.m.