MONEE, IL — A Tennessee man has been charged in the death of his 2-month-old son, more than two years after the infant stopped breathing at a truck stop in south suburban Monee, police said Thursday.

Authorities identified the child as Sevyn Simmons, who was with his parents when emergency crews were called to the Petro Truck Stop on the morning of Aug. 31, 2022. Paramedics revived the baby before rushing him to Comer Children’s Hospital, but he died soon afterward.

The Cook County Medical Examiner’s Office later determined that the baby suffered a traumatic head injury. Monee police said a homicide warrant was secured earlier this month and the child’s father was taken into custody Tuesday.

Police say infant was found during overnight stop near Interstate 57

Officers were sent to the Petro Truck Stop at 5915 Monee Manhattan Road, just east of the Interstate 57 interchange, after a report that an infant was not breathing. The call came in the morning of Aug. 31, 2022, according to Monee police.

Investigators said the child had been staying there overnight with his parents in a company truck before the family planned to continue on to Wisconsin. Police said the baby was traveling with both parents, including Kelsey Simmons.

Emergency responders managed to restore the infant’s breathing at the scene. He was then taken to Comer Children’s Hospital in Chicago, where he later died. Police have not said what happened in the hours before the emergency call.

Medical examiner ruled the baby's death a homicide

The Cook County Medical Examiner’s Office said the baby died from a traumatic head injury. That finding became a central part of the investigation that followed, though police have not publicly detailed the events that led to the injury.

Monee police said the case remained under review for a long period before charges were filed. The department and the Will County State’s Attorney’s Office ultimately obtained a homicide warrant for the father earlier this month.

Authorities have not released additional evidence or explained what led investigators to conclude that the death was criminal. The child was 2 months old at the time of the incident.

Suspect arrested in Montana and held for extradition

Police said the father, a 35-year-old Tennessee man, was arrested Tuesday by the U.S. Marshals Service with help from the Helena, Montana Police Department. He was then booked while awaiting extradition back to Illinois.

Monee police did not immediately provide further details about the charges beyond homicide. Court proceedings are expected to follow once he is returned to the state.

Investigators also did not say whether anyone else will face charges in connection with the boy’s death. The case remains active as the legal process moves forward.

A long wait for answers after the 2022 emergency call

The arrest closes one chapter of a case that began with a frantic medical emergency at a truck stop south of Chicago. From the start, the infant’s condition was critical enough to require immediate resuscitation and hospital care.

For more than two years, the case sat in the hands of investigators and prosecutors before the homicide warrant was issued. That timeline reflects the amount of work often required in child-death investigations, especially when medical findings and witness statements must be sorted through carefully.

Police have not said whether the family was in the area for work-related travel beyond being in a company truck, and they have not released new information about the trip itself. What is clear is that the child did not survive the emergency that brought officers and paramedics to the truck stop.

What officials have and have not revealed so far

So far, authorities have confirmed the arrest, the homicide warrant, the location of the emergency and the medical examiner’s conclusion that the child suffered a traumatic head injury. They have not released a fuller account of how the injury happened.

Monee police said no additional information was immediately available after the arrest. That leaves important questions unanswered, including the circumstances that led the infant to stop breathing and what evidence tied the father to the boy’s death.

Until court records or further statements are released, the case will remain centered on the medical finding, the delayed warrant and the custody transfer from Montana to Illinois.