Mom Realizes Cops Discovered Her Disturbing Secret

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Transcript

unknown 0:01

Hi!

SPEAKER_01 0:02

Are you Miss Staples?

SPEAKER_19 0:04

Yes, how can I help you?

SPEAKER_01 0:05

So we got kind of a weird phone call. Some lady called DCFS and kind of made some claims that you had a child that accidentally himself.

SPEAKER_13 0:13

This is 37-year-old Sushi Staples, and in a few moments, police would discover her son's decomposing body, which had been hidden for seven months.

SPEAKER_16 0:28

Do you know why we're here?

SPEAKER_07 0:29

No, I don't. I don't know why you're here.

SPEAKER_16 0:31

Okay. And allegations are that you have a son and that he's deceased and he's here in this house.

SPEAKER_13 0:41

A few weeks earlier, the police department received an anonymous call claiming that Sushi had been hiding her deceased son's body and that no one knew about it. Yet when officers spoke to neighbors, everyone said they had never seen a boy at the house.

SPEAKER_07 1:02

I am.

SPEAKER_13 1:04

At first, detectives believed Sushi was being set up by her ex-boyfriend's new partner, and that Zion didn't exist, but they would be horribly wrong. As the weeks go by, investigations begin. Detectives would uncover a twisted cover-up that prevented them from answering the one question they had where was Zion?

SPEAKER_20 1:22

What is that? First step for Zion Staples.

SPEAKER_17 1:29

We need to get this figured out.

SPEAKER_15 1:31

Stop this scene.

SPEAKER_20 1:32

It's over.

SPEAKER_15 1:33

Where is that kid?

SPEAKER_13 1:44

On June 24th, 2023, in Rock Island, Illinois, the Rock Island Police Department received a concerning 911 call from an anonymous caller, claiming they had information about a boy that hasn't been seen for over half a year.

SPEAKER_05 1:58

Okay, what can I help you with? Okay, so I stand the state of Florida, okay? Okay. I don't even know how to go about this situation. Back in December? Because I'm just now finding out about this. Is that the anything that a little boy may have developed enough? I mean, not that I recall. Okay. I'm asking it because it's a really good thing for me.

SPEAKER_08 2:38

What's going on that you need my helmet? I don't believe so. I'm just trying to get it as quick as possible so I can have an officer call you and they can kind of hammer it out more, okay? Okay. What's the kid's name?

SPEAKER_05 3:12

I'm not so familiar. I know it's the boy who's about nine years old. Zion, I believe his name is Zion.

SPEAKER_13 3:23

Without an address or name, police weren't able to follow through with this call, leaving the report unverified for weeks. Then, after that period of inaction, they received another call, this time from DCFS, raising the same disturbing concerns and forcing officers to take a closer look.

SPEAKER_10 3:49

But we don't do welfare checks, and we just didn't want to leave it alone. Um I think you guys have already had a call about this, but it was just odd to us. Um my caller is a friend of the mom, and the mom told the caller that one of her children, Zion Staples, had killed himself in December. Hang on, let me go back.

SPEAKER_09 4:14

What's mom's name?

SPEAKER_10 4:15

Sushi.

SPEAKER_09 4:16

What's her last name?

SPEAKER_10 4:17

Staples.

SPEAKER_09 4:18

Oh, it's staples, too. How old is Zion?

SPEAKER_10 4:20

Um nine or ten.

SPEAKER_13 4:22

With no action taken for weeks and still fearing for her safety, the anonymous caller contacted DCFS in hopes of pushing the case forward. Once police were provided with Sushi Staples' address, they were finally able to carry out a welfare check. But what they didn't yet realize was that this would mark the beginning of a weeks-long investigation to answer the one question everyone had. Two weeks after the initial anonymous call, cops finally arrived at Sushi's residence. Yet it was far from what they expected.

unknown 5:06

Hi, for you.

SPEAKER_19 5:09

Hi.

SPEAKER_01 5:10

Are you Miss Staples?

SPEAKER_19 5:11

Yes, how can I help you?

SPEAKER_01 5:13

So we got kind of a weird phone call. Some lady called DCFS and kind of made some claims that you had a child that accidentally sh themselves.

SPEAKER_07 5:22

Absolutely not.

SPEAKER_01 5:23

No, I'm not. It sounds crazy to me too.

SPEAKER_07 5:26

That's what I am so sorry about this. My ex-husband, his new girlfriend, this broad is off the chain. I have gone down to Rock Island and filed a police report on her. Okay. I have gone and put a restraining order on her.

SPEAKER_01 5:41

What's her name?

SPEAKER_07 5:42

Uh, her name is Tony. This girl is never in it. She has so many different Facebook pages she stalked me from. She has made up different names, called me from different numbers. I have changed my number, tried to do everything I can.

SPEAKER_01 5:55

Right.

SPEAKER_07 5:56

Unfortunately, I can never seem to get them served because they're always bouncing around in the Chicago area.

SPEAKER_01 6:02

Oh, okay. They're not even down here now.

SPEAKER_07 6:03

They're not even out here. And it's been a constant.

SPEAKER_01 6:07

Wait, have we been here before?

SPEAKER_07 6:08

No, you've never come to my house for anything. I've been here for seven years and never had a problem in Rock Island.

SPEAKER_01 6:13

Yeah, I didn't know you were here.

SPEAKER_07 6:15

I work, I work at Genesis Hospital. I'm a patient care tech. I'm a student at Eastern Iowa Community College. I have a business in Davenport. This girl has made threats towards me on Facebook, posting her gun up, saying that she's gonna come to my addie. It's just never ending.

SPEAKER_13 6:33

At first contact, Sushi denied all allegations and claimed she was getting set up by her ex's new girlfriend. Although the allegation seemed insane even to the cops, they still had to follow welfare protocol. Yet it wouldn't go as they thought it would.

SPEAKER_01 6:47

You think look look where I live. No, I get it. Just so I can check the box off when I look in your basement real quick and I'll get out of here.

SPEAKER_07 6:53

No, you need a search warrant to do that. I'm sorry, I'm not about to have my rights violated because someone makes uranus allegations like this.

SPEAKER_01 7:01

I know. Like I said, it sounded crazy to me too. I'm just up here seeing if, you know, we have to investigate it. You know, no matter how crazy is it.

SPEAKER_07 7:13

I'm not about to let some crazy woman who has now has my husband make uranus accusations like this to have my rights valet doesn't mean.

SPEAKER_01 7:23

No, I get it. That's what I'm just saying.

SPEAKER_07 7:24

That is not okay. I have four girls in here.

SPEAKER_01 7:26

That's what I'm just asking. I'm not four children. I'm not trying to blame anything on you. I'm not saying this is true. I'm just saying, I was just asking, okay? This is nuts. That's all it is. Okay.

SPEAKER_07 7:37

Um I have four children.

SPEAKER_01 7:39

Her ex-husband's new girlfriend's been causing her issues. She thinks that's who it is.

SPEAKER_07 7:44

She's been harassing my job, harassing my place of business, harassing my children. I'm sick of it.

SPEAKER_01 7:51

Okay.

SPEAKER_07 7:51

I've tried to get a restraining order against her, tried to get one against him. It's never ending. I cannot have any peace where I live.

SPEAKER_01 7:59

And you guys only have girls?

SPEAKER_07 8:01

Yes.

SPEAKER_01 8:01

Okay.

SPEAKER_07 8:02

I have four. Do you want to see them?

SPEAKER_01 8:03

No, no, no. They said it was a son. I was just curious if that's even true.

SPEAKER_07 8:08

It's not.

SPEAKER_01 8:08

Okay.

SPEAKER_07 8:09

I this this is, I'm just I'm it's a never-ending story with these two.

SPEAKER_01 8:14

I get like I said, I'm not I'm not trying to bother you anything, but we get a call no matter how crazy it sounds, we still gotta come up and see if there's any truth.

SPEAKER_07 8:20

And this is crazy.

SPEAKER_01 8:21

It is.

SPEAKER_07 8:22

This is very crazy.

SPEAKER_01 8:23

Okay.

SPEAKER_07 8:24

I have been all right.

SPEAKER_01 8:25

Well, sorry to bother you, okay? It's like I said, we get a call, we get we gotta show you.

SPEAKER_07 8:30

They gonna get to the point now where they don't have my phone number, so they're emailing me. Okay? I have spam emails here from these people. I'm gonna go down here. The last one I got was let me see.

SPEAKER_01 8:44

Is it have a name on it?

SPEAKER_07 8:46

Yes, it has his name on it. I had to go here. This is the last one I have. And this gotten to the point where they're emailing me because they don't have a contact phone number on me. This is how bad the harass has gotten. But until I can get Rock Island to Cook County to serve them and actually find an address on them, right? That's gonna be a problem.

SPEAKER_01 9:10

Oh, yeah.

SPEAKER_07 9:11

So they keep having me come back to court until I can get an address on it.

SPEAKER_01 9:14

I'll add some notes just in the call that I was here, and that it's a harassment thing, so we don't have to keep coming up here and thank you. Alright, sorry. Sorry to buggy. I just like I said, we got a call, even if it sounds crazy, we gotta come see what's in there.

SPEAKER_07 9:25

This this lady, this I don't even know what to say about her.

SPEAKER_01 9:30

All right.

SPEAKER_13 9:33

Police left the welfare check without confirming the one thing they came for: where Zion was, as Sushi claimed she only had four daughters and no son named Zion. With no immediate evidence, officers treated it as a harassment complaint, took no further action, and closed the case. Around a week later, the anonymous caller reached out again, this time identifying herself as 36-year-old Laterica Wilson, a woman Sushi had been confiding in for the past seven months about her son's death. She urged detectives to contact DCFS and check their records to prove Zion existed. And when they did, they realized the case was far more serious than they had first believed.

SPEAKER_09 10:16

Um, has DCFS had anything with a juvenile name Zion? Have with this person? Do you guys have a case at all?

SPEAKER_10 10:23

So we don't have anything open. Um we have a history, but it's been a few years.

SPEAKER_09 10:28

Was there a Zion in that history?

SPEAKER_10 10:30

Yes.

SPEAKER_09 10:31

There was and a male?

SPEAKER_10 10:33

Male Zion?

SPEAKER_09 10:39

The motherfucker says that she only has four girls. Okay. So I just want to confirm that your case records, old case records, indicate that sushi would have a son named Zion. Yes. Because it looks like last time they went, she possibly said she didn't have any sons.

SPEAKER_10 10:54

So I don't know where Yeah, I don't know why she would be saying that.

SPEAKER_13 10:59

DCFS pulled up an old case file for a boy named Zion, and the situation quickly became more alarming. The file listed his full name as Nikithan Gregory Staples, also known as Zion Staples, born March 30th, 2013, just 10 years old. DCFS had prior involvement with their last confirmed contact in October 2021 when a caseworker saw him alive at a residence in Chicago, Illinois. The case had been opened over concerns about the children's home environment. Zion was listed as living with his mother, Sushi Staples, while his father, Lattez Owens, had been largely absent. But one detail stood out. There had been no record of Zion since that 2021 visit. No school, no medical visits, no follow-ups. For nearly two years, it was as if he had vanished. Detectives now knew this was far more than a harassment case, but they needed more than one report to secure a search warrant. Alongside the DCFS file, they would uncover two more pieces of evidence proving Zion existed. So, their first step was locating Zion's father, Lattes Owens. After two days of searching, the detectives were able to find Zion's father's last known place of residence. Yet they were met with a big issue.

SPEAKER_12 12:43

Are you the only one in the house?

SPEAKER_13 12:58

When officers arrived, someone answered the door, but it wasn't Latez. They claimed they didn't know where he was, leaving police with nothing to go on. With so much time already lost, officers moved quickly, deciding to discreetly speak with sushi's neighbors to see if anyone had ever seen a young boy at the home, and the responses they got were concerning.

SPEAKER_11 13:18

The two little ones. Okay. The two little ones are rarely left outside. Gotcha, gotcha.

SPEAKER_00 13:30

Okay. What about any uh sons that you can think of? Any small males? No. Okay. Nope.

SPEAKER_11 13:37

Not that not that my memory serves me. It's I don't sit and peer and watch and but you know, we've seen the girls out. They've brought a little puppy out here. Okay.

SPEAKER_00 13:50

Um so if I were to say, um, you don't remember any any male about eight, nine, ten years old being there like half six months ago, a year ago, that doesn't ring a bell.

SPEAKER_11 14:03

Well, there yeah, I'm there there've been other children there, but um mainly it's just the two girls.

SPEAKER_00 14:10

Mainly the two girls, okay.

SPEAKER_11 14:11

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 14:12

Just moved over there as a black one with some kids.

SPEAKER_00 14:15

Okay. Um, do you know about how long they've lived there for?

SPEAKER_05 14:19

Roughly. I noticed them about a couple of months. They didn't come outside a lot.

SPEAKER_00 14:24

Okay. So when I seen them was about a couple of months ago, maybe. Okay. Do you uh what kind of kids do you remember seeing there? Um was it all females? Was it all males? Like the the kids that's that live there. I seen some little girls. Little girls. Okay. You know how many girls different girls you see on there?

SPEAKER_11 14:45

I want to say three. I don't know her more. Sure. You know, because you know, you just see kids playing.

SPEAKER_00 14:51

Ever see any young boys playing there? I never saw a boy.

unknown 14:54

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 14:55

Alright. Male black, male white, who state who lives there or anything? I hardly see anybody coming out of the house, to be honest. Okay. If I were to ask you, like, do you know if any kids live there, would be able to say that or no?

SPEAKER_18 15:07

Uh I may have may have seen one kid at one point in time, but I honestly couldn't no, no, I understand. That's fine.

unknown 15:14

Okay.

SPEAKER_13 15:14

Police had reached a complete standstill, unable to locate Zion's father, and with every neighbor claiming they had never seen a boy at the house, the case was starting to slip in the wrong direction. Sorry to interrupt the story, but if you're into true crime and want access to raw, uncensored footage, check out our Patreon. Link in the description. Until later that day, when Laterica Wilson learned police were finally looking for Zion, she reached out again, this time with far more detail. And what she revealed would change everything.

SPEAKER_04 15:48

Um, me and Sushi we met back when we were kids um in Lutherbrook. Um, she we had to have been around. I went to Lutherbrook when I was around 10 or 11. Um, sushi is a couple years older than me. So I met her around that time. Um we were in Luther Brook for about two years together. Um, and we kept in contact with each other. Um and with several other, it was a coin um group home that we were in. It was called Luther Brook in Addison, Illinois. Um, and we kept in contact with each other, and we would reach out to each other through Facebook social media, sometimes phone calls, uh, but mainly we kept in contact through social media for years and years and years. Um, we kept up with each other um as far as life goes. Um on January of 2023, the first week of January, I believe it was around the 3rd of January. It was between the 3rd and the 8th, I received a phone call from Susie. Um, and the phone call at first was just like a regular phone call, like how you've been, how you been doing and stuff like that. And then I heard her like crying a little bit. And I asked her, I said, What's wrong? And she just stated to me that Christmas was not in the same again. Um she then stated to me, I said, why what happened? Um, and she was like hesitant to bring it out and tell me. She then told me that her son um had she was gone from the house and she told me that her son had missed up.

SPEAKER_16 17:51

And who do you know her son as?

SPEAKER_04 17:53

Diana.

SPEAKER_16 17:54

Okay.

SPEAKER_04 17:55

Um she said that he tried his uh at the time he was nine years old. Um I said, what do you mean he tried his stuff? Um how did he I asked herself questions like how did he get a gun? Like how did that happen? She explained to me that she had just stepped out to run some errands, and she received a call from her daughter Serenity saying that Zion was gone, and she said, What do you mean, gone? She said, Why is he gone? Why is he is yeah, Zion and he backing out. But she told me before she left, he kept saying that he missed his dad, or something like that, and he was crying because he felt like he missed his dad, or something like that. She had made it to me. She told me that was in fear that they would take their kids away and she was scared to lose everything. And I'm like, what are you talking about? And she said she still had him there, and she tried to set him on fire. Um when she set him on fire, he caused a lot of smoke in the house. So they put it out. And she said she called husband, what used to be husband, um is for a guy to come to the house and supposedly they cleaned up everything. And he had to clean up everything. She said she had him in her bed for a while. And she was cleaning the house, and before she knew it, he took the key he took the girls with him at the time it happened. Because when she was originally when she was on the phone with me, the girls wasn't at the house for a couple months.

unknown 19:51

At least.

SPEAKER_13 19:52

Laterica revealed horrifying details of what Sushi had supposedly done, becoming the second key piece of evidence detectives needed to secure a search warrant. If investigators could find signs of burning, like soot or fire damage inside the home, it would support her claims. She also told police that Lates was staying in Chicago and provided them with a number to contact him. When detectives eventually tracked down Zion's father, Lattez, it brought them one step closer to securing that warrant, and closer to finding Zion. After a few days of trying to contact Lates, they finally were able to get through to him, and after a lot of reassurance, convinced Lattes to meet with them and provide his account of what happened that day at Sushi's house. As so far, Lattes was the only person who was actually in the house the day Zion supposedly died.

SPEAKER_03 20:46

They say, hey, Zion is shot us up. I'm what the f y'all mean? Zionist shot itself. What the f y'all mom at? Hey, she at work. So I'm like, did y'all talk to y'all mom? They say, yeah. She she called me, I hang up from there. She called me, I'm on the road. I where the f you at? Why the fuck those doors ain't locked up? See, I I thought I locked the door. What the fuck you mean you thought you locked the door? So at that point, I get there. She there. I'm up to the back door. I see her in the living room. She she hollering, crying, going crazy. He is hollering, going crazy. I mock past her. I go on the wall. I see him. I bust down crying. I was seeing it. I know I know it's hard. I was easy.

SPEAKER_18 21:49

No, you don't need that.

SPEAKER_03 22:02

I get to talk to like see now. I just need a little bit more time with my son. He's just dad before prison. He's just done before prison. I'm still talking. We gotta call this in. We gotta report this shit to these kids. See, I just need more time. I just need more time. So I said, okay. I said okay. So in the live room, the kids upstairs. They still call. Going crazy. So I'm still talking. You gon' have the time this shit in. You're gonna have the time this shit in. See, I just need more time. I just lost my son. I'm going through a lot. I just need my son back. I want my son back. He's gone. You're gonna have to talk this shit in. You feel me? You're gonna have to. You ain't got no choice. So at this point, I'm like, food. You still finna have to turn this shit in. You feel me? Regardless of what the f have been happening, you still gonna have to turn it in. See, I don't wanna lose my kids. I've been going through so much of the DCFS, all this. Um I got the kids, I can take care of the kids. I don't, I could take care of the kids because it's gonna be a little hard because I don't know how to read the shit, and I need her to do certain shit, but I was willing to take on that that position, you feel me?

SPEAKER_13 23:20

Lante's began to paint a clearer picture of why sushi may have acted the way she did, but it still wasn't enough for detectives to secure a search warrant. That, however, was about to change.

SPEAKER_03 23:31

She just didn't want to leave him, period. Like she just wanted to stay with Zion all that day. Like she just didn't want to get rid of him. So I'm like, I'll take the kids, and me and the kids packed up and we left. And I had them for like three months. I had them for three months. She sent me a text message like she was in court, and then she sent me the ashes. So I'm like, oh she must have witchcoped to get him cremated, took the went to the courts. So I'm like, alright, cool! So next thing you know, she next thing you know, she comes to the crib. I left the fucking keys. Now we get into an argument because she found some shit on my phone.

SPEAKER_18 24:19

Here's the thing, I think we need to ask you point blank. There's an issue with this child possibly being burnt something.

SPEAKER_14 24:29

Say it what?

SPEAKER_18 24:30

Being burnt.

SPEAKER_03 24:31

Being burnt.

SPEAKER_18 24:32

Yeah, the body.

SPEAKER_03 24:33

I don't know nothing about that. Nothing at all.

SPEAKER_18 24:36

Do you know anything with her or with you? Or anybody trying to like in disposal of this body setting him on fire? Yeah, to ask that.

SPEAKER_03 24:49

Nah, I I don't, seriously, I do not know. She said she texted me the picture of like an urn and that she got like like like like she like she went to the like she went to a cremation store to be a cremation, and then she sent me the text like she's in court. Like she like like she went to court before it or something. You feel me? So I'm like, okay, fine.

SPEAKER_18 25:07

And that picture on that urn, that's Zion's Zion.

SPEAKER_03 25:10

I'm state to death.

SPEAKER_18 25:11

I got hella pictures of him. Do you have other pictures of him? What?

SPEAKER_03 25:14

Can you what? What? That's my motherfucking son.

SPEAKER_18 25:17

I just cut my dreads. Alright.

SPEAKER_03 25:19

I I get his head done every f time, every time I I get. What? Stop the man with but look, I got more pictures of him. Hold on.

SPEAKER_13 25:30

After speaking with Lantes, it became clear he had no idea Sushi had never reported Zion's death. He provided messages between them, along with the fake photos she had sent of Zion's urn and supposed court proceedings. But he also gave detectives something far more important. An actual photo of Zion. Something they didn't have until that point, bringing his existence to life. Now, detectives had all three pieces of evidence they needed. And soon they would receive the warrant to finally find Zion.

SPEAKER_16 26:06

She looked out the window. Hello.

SPEAKER_02 26:13

Yes.

SPEAKER_16 26:16

Can you come out?

SPEAKER_02 26:17

What's going on?

SPEAKER_16 26:18

Well, just step on out, I'll explain everything.

SPEAKER_02 26:21

Okay, my kids in here.

SPEAKER_16 26:22

Okay, I understand that, but we have a search warrant for the house.

SPEAKER_07 26:27

So step on out.

SPEAKER_18 26:28

No, step out. The whole house the whole house. You need to step out. Step out.

SPEAKER_07 26:36

Okay, let me. I'm I'm gonna open the door. Open the door.

SPEAKER_16 26:39

We'll all walk in casually. We're not gonna tear up your house or anything. So calm down.

SPEAKER_07 26:43

My kids are in here. Okay. How many? Four. And we're at in the house. They're upstairs. I just made them go upstairs. I don't want to scare my kids. Can we just can we just calm here? Can I see the warrant, please? And I can call my lawyer. Can I see the warrant before we walk any further? We have a valid search warrant, so. I understand, but you haven't let me see it yet, and you're walking through my name.

SPEAKER_16 27:09

It's right here. You don't run number two. You don't have your number two page.

SPEAKER_07 27:13

Okay, okay. I'm trying to see.

SPEAKER_16 27:17

So I need your phone too.

SPEAKER_07 27:19

My phone. It's not my phone. I'm just look, I'm shaking, okay? We can my my kids are here. Sure. Can we just calm down?

SPEAKER_16 27:33

We just gotta make sure that for our safety, because we can't let you want to do it. You don't know me, I don't know you. So we want to make sure that the house is safe and then we'll go from there, okay?

SPEAKER_07 28:23

Because my heart, you guys are here, my kids are upstairs, I'm separated from them, and I'm like my heart is just pounding through the totally understand.

SPEAKER_17 28:31

Can I get you a glass of water or something? Would you like one?

SPEAKER_07 28:36

There's some some uh I can't even see the cups.

SPEAKER_13 28:54

As the detective spoke to Sushi, the rest rummaged through her house, trying to look for any sign of Zion. Yet this wouldn't come easy, and neither did speaking to Sushi.

SPEAKER_16 29:04

Do you know why we're here?

SPEAKER_02 29:05

No, I don't. I don't know why you're here. Okay.

SPEAKER_06 29:16

Okay.

SPEAKER_16 29:23

And so the reason we're here, okay, is because we're investigating a call that we we had, okay. We have to handle that real seriously, okay, because the allegations are that you have a son and that he's deceased and he's here in this house. Okay, so that's that's where we're at right now. Do you have a son named Zion?

SPEAKER_14 29:50

No, I don't.

SPEAKER_16 29:51

You've never had a son named Zion.

SPEAKER_14 29:54

No.

SPEAKER_16 29:55

Are you claiming benefits for a kid named Zion?

SPEAKER_07 29:59

No. I haven't gotten any bit benefits for anyone. I just recently went through a situation where a young lady stole my identity and she falsely filed my taxes and my informations and stuff like that. And I've been working with the FBI, I've been working with the IRS, there's been a lot of things popping up, and um Um, have you had any interactions with DCFS up in Chicago? I did.

SPEAKER_16 30:31

Okay.

SPEAKER_07 30:32

False calls that were made.

SPEAKER_16 30:33

Okay.

SPEAKER_07 30:34

Correct.

SPEAKER_16 30:34

Um, one of the calls from 2021, DCFS came out to your residence in Chicago, and there was a Zion staples there.

SPEAKER_07 30:44

We had kids in the neighborhood come out. So some of those kids that were implicated were not in fact our children. They were there.

SPEAKER_16 30:52

So you're saying there was a kid in your apartment that was not your your kid named Zion.

SPEAKER_07 30:58

I didn't say his name was Zion, no.

SPEAKER_18 31:02

Well, somewhere here we've got to clear this up with this Zion Staples.

SPEAKER_07 31:06

Yes, and nothing benefits.

SPEAKER_18 31:08

Listen to it. Benefits being put in his name that you're receiving from. I haven't received any benefits, and then also involved in this.

SPEAKER_07 31:16

I haven't received any benefits. That's what I'm telling you. Someone has stolen my identity. I have proof of that. If you go in my phone, you'll be able to see the messages between me and the FBI agent in Milwaukee.

SPEAKER_18 31:30

So I'm but this is separate from that with the DCFS call.

SPEAKER_07 31:36

Because somebody is obviously claiming benefits and getting property on the food stamps. But they're getting food stamps for your your four daughters and I've been having a hard time with that because I can't get any because of that, and I've been working on it.

unknown 31:52

Yeah, I want you.

SPEAKER_13 31:53

Sushi began explaining how her identity was stolen, that these papers weren't accurate, and how her ex's girlfriend was stalking her. Yet none of that made sense. And it was only a matter of time before she got tangled in her own lies.

SPEAKER_07 32:06

I have been trying to get away from them. I fled his abuse.

SPEAKER_16 32:11

What if I told you that it's not from them?

SPEAKER_07 32:13

That girl makes up many names. I'm telling you, she's persistent. This is some shit like out of a lifetime movie. She makes up so many names, has so many pages, so many aliases, okay? So if she said that that wasn't her, if she gave you another name, it's her. I don't have enemies, okay? I've never had a problem here in Rock Island.

SPEAKER_00 32:45

Is that concrete?

SPEAKER_20 32:47

That might be concrete.

SPEAKER_00 32:48

I can't really tell. Yeah.

SPEAKER_14 32:59

Delta concrete. Is it done concrete? Uh I'm hoping. Yeah. We want uh pictures. Yeah.

SPEAKER_18 33:09

Somewhere here we need to get the bottom of this Zion and this Zion thing. I can't help you. This is coming from other this is coming from other people. This is going to be a couple of things.

SPEAKER_07 33:17

I can't help it if people call and make allegations against me. People do this every day out of spite.

SPEAKER_16 33:22

Laterica gave pretty details. She knows you, she knows your whole all your kids.

SPEAKER_07 33:31

She, if if this person gave this information, your question to them should have been if you knew about this, why are you just now reporting it?

SPEAKER_16 33:40

She's reported it a couple times.

SPEAKER_07 33:42

Reported it a couple of times.

SPEAKER_16 33:44

Back in June, an officer called and talked to you.

SPEAKER_07 33:46

And when did she say this supposed to happen?

SPEAKER_16 33:48

You tell me.

SPEAKER_07 33:50

I'm asking you because she's the one that's making all the reports.

SPEAKER_16 33:53

I mean, you haven't given us anything besides that somebody stole your identity.

SPEAKER_07 33:57

Um, because I don't have anything to give you. Okay, because I don't you want me to give you something. I don't have anything to give you, sir.

SPEAKER_16 34:05

But you're saying you don't know who this girl is, but right now.

SPEAKER_07 34:07

I don't people envy me everything.

SPEAKER_16 34:09

But listen, hear me out, hear me out. Okay, I hear me out though. Right after that officer left last night, you texted this person and was talking shit to them. Well, there we have to take pictures of the whole house and then we'll search just to show that we're not like breaking stuff and everything else like that.

SPEAKER_07 34:28

So you were pissed off that the officers were here and then you I didn't know who it was because I thought it was this girl that found my number again because nobody has my number. So I thought it was her fing harassing me again. That's why I told the officer like that. So then who did you text and I thought it was Tony?

SPEAKER_13 34:50

When police mentioned the DCFS files, Sushi denied they were real. When they brought up Laterica, the woman she had been confiding in for months, she claimed she had never known her. But inside the house, officers were about to find something that would completely catch her off guard.

SPEAKER_18 35:13

That's what they were saying. It was like it was like someone.

SPEAKER_07 36:01

I'm telling you, I have gone through every avenue to get away from my husband, the people that he's got to do.

SPEAKER_16 36:08

This has nothing to do with your husband.

SPEAKER_18 36:10

We're on the Zion, is where we're at right now. We need to get our this needs to be rationalized, it needs to be put out, and we need to get this through.

SPEAKER_07 36:19

People are trying to turn my life upside down. It's they think I have all of this. I don't have anything. I'm a simple person. I work a job to take care of my kids. But people are.

SPEAKER_17 36:30

How come Zion is coming back to you and your address here to publication?

SPEAKER_07 36:33

Man, this is crazy. I don't know. I think I'm being framed. That's what I think is going on. It I'm telling you, y'all not gonna believe me, but I am being framed. I am so who's framing it? I just told you.

SPEAKER_16 36:51

Like I said, this came this didn't this didn't come. I was like, what the hell is this? And then we did digging with DCFS and public aid and everything else, and stuff starting to line up and everything else. So that's that's how we were granted a search warrant. Because you, I mean, you you already lied to the officer last night saying you didn't have a son when you do have a son.

SPEAKER_07 37:14

But he didn't about the son in question that he asked me about.

SPEAKER_16 37:18

You said I do not have a son.

SPEAKER_07 37:20

But because he didn't ask me the correct question. The correct question is the name that he gave me, I cannot acknowledge that. I can only acknowledge who I've given birth to.

SPEAKER_16 37:34

You said I don't have a son named Zion, I have a son named So-and-so, instead of just saying I don't have a son, because then that's all we have.

SPEAKER_07 37:41

Because at that point, what do you think? I was scared. I'm feeling like I'm under what is like what is going on? I'm like, what is that?

SPEAKER_18 37:48

First hit for Zion Staples.

SPEAKER_20 37:49

Zion Staples. That's not mine.

SPEAKER_17 37:51

Sushi Staples, it's fine, we need to get this figured out.

SPEAKER_18 37:56

Stop this.

SPEAKER_15 37:59

It's over. Where is that kid?

SPEAKER_16 38:11

You need to come clean because we're not going anywhere. This is just you're just gonna dig yourself a bigger grave now. I asked you if there's anything with Zion's name in this house. You said no. So let's let's start all over, okay? Who is Zion?

SPEAKER_18 38:29

Because we're starting with something that we're being told really terrible, and then we're talking about down here with with maybe fraud. We don't know. But somewhere along here, we need to get the full thing here and understand what this is. So, what is the part of this that this really is? Because you know what they told you last night, and that's something horrible. But then there's and then we're talking about are you getting benefits from a from a child that doesn't exist but have all this stuff for? We need to know the truth here. It's done, it's over. We're in the middle of this now. We have evidence to show this now.

SPEAKER_16 39:07

So let's start start over. Who is Zion? Is he your son? I mean, the cat's out of the bag now. We I need to know.

SPEAKER_18 39:28

We need to get here's the thing, honey.

SPEAKER_02 39:31

I will go with you where you want to go. Just let me come. I'm family. That's it. We need to get my kids. That's it.

SPEAKER_18 39:37

We need to open up and talk about this.

SPEAKER_14 39:40

Oh.

SPEAKER_18 39:41

And I know this might be the toughest thing you've ever done, but we have to figure this out now. This is as serious as serious gets, and we need to understand what what's going on here. We're too far in now.

SPEAKER_13 39:53

Just as the detective thought Sushi was about to reveal the truth, she came up with another far-fetched lie. Yet at this point, it was only a matter of time before the cops would find the one thing they've been searching for this whole time. Zion.

SPEAKER_18 40:07

We can tell. Let's get it in the open.

SPEAKER_16 40:20

You say you you say you care about your kids, right?

SPEAKER_02 40:24

I do.

SPEAKER_16 40:25

Okay, well. What happened to Zion? Speak for him.

SPEAKER_18 40:30

He was Speak for him.

SPEAKER_16 40:34

He needs he needs clo he needs he needs his closure and his rest, and we need to find him.

SPEAKER_06 40:44

I needed some extra help. Okay. That was it.

SPEAKER_17 40:53

What do you mean by that?

SPEAKER_06 40:58

I had a person that makes documents. It was just really hard.

SPEAKER_16 41:18

So does is is Zion a real person?

SPEAKER_12 41:21

No.

SPEAKER_20 41:31

Tell me about how you got these documents.

SPEAKER_06 41:35

I know a person that makes the documents.

SPEAKER_16 41:38

What which which documents did you get?

SPEAKER_06 41:40

IDs, social security cards, birth certificates. They made it for me to have an extra dependent on my income taxes, but I never used it. So I gave it to somebody else to use for theirs so they can get more money.

SPEAKER_07 42:10

Yeah, so that was the thing. I get the benefits and they filed the taxes.

SPEAKER_20 42:17

That's the split. That's the split. So how come DCFS and Chicago list that?

SPEAKER_07 42:23

Because that was the documentation that I had. We gave it to public aid, so that's how it was registered. And you know, as you know, DCFS, they have a system when they go into public aid, they are able to see everyone that is listed. And he was on those public aid documents. Do you pay for these documents? I did. How much? Over $500 because they look so legitimate. This person is really good at what they do. They make real IDs, they make everything. Hell, they can give you a whole new identity if you ask for it. Where are they at? In Chicago. Um, I haven't had contact with this person in about four years. So that was the last time I received any documents from them.

SPEAKER_13 43:21

This story may have been believable at first, but with statements from Laterica and Zion's father, along with the documentation in Zion's photograph, detectives could see right through it. And as this was unfolding, officers searched a part of the property they hadn't checked yet, where they would discover something that would stay with them for life. Unfortunately, nine-year-old Zion's body was found in a severe state of decomposition, hidden inside a trash can at the back of Sushi's garage. As officers continued searching the home, they also located the room where Zion had shut himself, along with signs of Sushi's attempt to cover it up, a Bible passage with Zion's name highlighted and the gun used in the shooting. Once autopsy results came in, Zion's body had clear burn marks aligning with Laterica's account and a distinctive fatal gunshot wound determined as the self-inflicted cause of death. Sushi Staples was arrested and later charged with concealment of a death, obstructing justice, and failure to report the death of a child under 13. The case was ultimately resolved when she pleaded guilty to endangering the life or health of a child, and she was sentenced to two years in prison. Investigators determined she failed to report Zion's death and concealed his body for months, largely to avoid losing custody of her other children. Once again, we have a Patreon with uncensored and raw footage. Link in the description.