Boy dies from seizures due to abuse from dad, years ago

Gerelle Nelson had a short and difficult life.He suffered severe brain damage, which led to seizures, after being injured by his father in 2001 when he was younger than a year old. On Sunday afternoon, he died in his sleep inside his mother's Sauk Village home in the 3000 block of 224th Place.He was two months shy of his 6th birthday.Deputy Police Chief Thomas Mountford said Gerelle was found unresponsive in his bed about 12:30 p.m.

His mother, Michelle, called police, and Gerelle was pronounced dead 14 minutes later.His death was the result of seizures and blunt head trauma and was ruled a homicide Monday by the Cook County medical examiner's office.Gerelle's father, Gerald Nelson, 30, was charged around the time of his son's injury with aggravated battery of a child.

He was sentenced last summer to 6 years in prison and is at the East Moline Correctional Center, police said.Now that Gerelle has died, Nelson may face more serious charges, police said.Although the medical examiner's office said there was a direct correlation between the prior injury and the boy's death, police had not yet come to that conclusion.

"We need to go over the medical examiner's report and our report and see if we are on the same page," Mountford said.A forensic pathologist in the medical examiner's office said the boy died because of the seizures, which were a direct result of his brain injury as an infant.He said Gerelle's body was in good condition and that he appeared to have been well taken care of in recent years.Jake Ash, Michelle's uncle by marriage, said the woman doted on her son.

"I feel bad for her," he said Monday. "I know how she felt about him."Kendall Marlowe, a spokesman for the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services, said the agency became involved in Gerelle's life in 2001. Marlowe had few details on the incident that led to the boy's injury, but said the agency found the abuse allegations against his father to be credible.

Gerelle was placed in foster care after the abuse was discovered. He was returned to his mother's care that same year.Marlowe said the department would begin a new investigation into Gerelle's death.