PEORIA, Ill. – A Peoria woman will remain in jail for what prosecutors say was a ”violent, brutal, and continuous attack” on her toddler twins, reportedly leading to the death of one of them.
Circuit Judge Paul Bauer on Thursday morning granted a request by the Peoria County State’s Attorney’s Office to detain 24-year-old Kaleeyah Sprinkle until trial.
She is charged with Murder in connection to the death of 20-month-old Amiri Robinson, and Aggravated Battery for alleged abuse against Robinson’s twin sister.
Prosecutors stated that Robinson was taken to the Peoria Fire Station on Hurlbert on May 6th by Sprinkle. There, Peoria Police officers assessed that he had severe brain damage, no signs of brain activity, did not respond to stimuli, and had fractures that did not heal.
Robinson passed away on May 9th. An autopsy revealed his cause of death was a result of multiple blunt force trauma injuries from “perpetrated child abuse.”
Peoria Police found the twin sister after spotting her under a blanket in a white SUV they had conducted a traffic stop on. The vehicle was driven by 34-year-old Zaxton Johnson, who is charged with Endangering the Life and Health of a Child in the case.
Prosecutors played bodycam footage from that traffic stop at the hearing, revealing the twin sister with obvious injuries and not properly restrained. The child appeared to have been crying and terrified, and immediately reached for the police officer.
It was revealed at the hearing that the twin sister is currently living with Sprinkle’s mother.
At the hearing, prosecutors argued that Sprinkle was the one who had sole custody of her twin children, from a timeframe of Easter and May 6th, when the alleged abuse occurred. They also argued that Sprinkle had left her daughter alone with Johnson, a sex offender, while she took Amiri to the fire station.
Sprinkle’s public defender argued that the state did not clearly establish who exactly between Sprinkle and Johnson committed the alleged abuse. The defense also argued that Sprinkle’s pretrial risk assessment was at a low level, and her only previous conviction was a misdemeanor in 2024 for driving on a suspended license.
The defense argued for releasing Sprinkle to home confinement and GPS monitoring. But prosecutors argued Sprinkle was on pretrial release in a prior case and failed to appeal for hearings in that case. They also claimed Sprinkle stated on a jail call that she believed the court would keep her away from her kids, and she would defy that order.
Bauer set a trial for July 14th, with a pretrial conference on July 3rd.
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