An Illinois man has been ordered to remain behind bars after being arrested in connection with the death of his seven-month-old son, court documents reveal. Jaden Hearns, 27, faces charges of murder, aggravated domestic battery, and aggravated battery against a child following the infant’s death on Sunday.
According to court documents, officers were called to Hearns’ Rockford home Sunday morning after a report of an unresponsive baby. The child was rushed to the hospital but died later that day. Investigators say Hearns was the only adult present with the baby that morning and that his account of what happened kept shifting under questioning.
Medical staff diagnosed the infant with two skull fractures in different areas of the skull, along with multiple rib fractures and a broken femur. When officers initially asked Hearns what had happened, he told them he had no idea. After further questioning, however, he offered a different account: he said he had been playing video games at 3:45 a.m. when he heard the baby crying. The child had reportedly been asleep before that point. Hearns also told police he suffered from a poor memory and a limited sense of time.
Authorities determined the cause of death to be blunt force trauma. The case has drawn further attention because of Hearns’ prior legal history. Local reported that he was already on pretrial release at the time of the infant’s death, stemming from a domestic battery case in which he allegedly strangled the baby’s mother while she was pregnant.
A judge had ordered in November 2025 that he was to have no contact with her while out of custody. Court documents indicate the woman and Hearns did not share a residence, but she regularly stayed overnight at his home. She was not present the morning Hearns was watching their son.
Surveillance footage added another layer to the investigation. Cameras around the property reportedly captured Hearns carrying a firearm inside the home, and police later recovered a rifle and ammunition on the premises. At a hearing on Tuesday, a judge ruled that Hearns had violated the conditions of his earlier release and ordered him held in the Winnebago County Jail. His next court appearance is set for May 27.
The case has raised questions about how pretrial release conditions are monitored, particularly in domestic violence situations involving vulnerable individuals — in this case, both an unborn child at the time of the earlier alleged assault, and an infant who would not survive to see his first birthday.
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