{"id":200956,"date":"2026-02-10T16:24:40","date_gmt":"2026-02-10T14:24:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/serbiantimes.info\/en\/?p=200956"},"modified":"2026-02-10T16:24:41","modified_gmt":"2026-02-10T14:24:41","slug":"filmed-child-abuse-eight-year-old-boy-from-chicago-dies-after-months-of-torture-at-home-video","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/serbiantimes.info\/en\/filmed-child-abuse-eight-year-old-boy-from-chicago-dies-after-months-of-torture-at-home-video\/","title":{"rendered":"FILMED CHILD ABUSE: Eight-year-old boy from Chicago dies after months of torture at home! (VIDEO)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">An eight-year-old boy, Markel Pierce, has died in Round Lake Beach, Illinois, following prolonged abuse and neglect in his family home, the Lake County Prosecutor\u2019s Office reported, according to ABC7 Chicago.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">His mother, Dominique Servant (33), and her partner, Joey Ruffin (38), have been charged with murder and are being held in custody pending trial. They face first-degree murder charges and charges of child endangerment resulting in death.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The investigation revealed that the boy suffered physical abuse for at least 20 months. Police also discovered video recordings showing Ruffin filming himself while \u201cpunishing\u201d the child. The judge described their behavior as \u201cmonstrous.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Prosecutors stated that the accused regularly beat Markel and his 10-year-old sister with belts and forced them to carry weights of around four kilograms as punishment. According to findings, the boy was deprived of food for days leading up to his death.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"es\" dir=\"ltr\">\ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\uddf8\ud83d\udea8 NI\u00d1O DE 8 A\u00d1OS MUERE POR ABUSO SISTEM\u00c1TICO<br><br>Madre y novio confesaron golpizas con cintur\u00f3n, privaci\u00f3n de comida y cargas de peso durante 20 meses.<br><br>\ud835\udde6\ud835\udddc\ud835\uddda\ud835\udde8\ud835\uddd8 <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/ULTIMAHORAENX?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@ULTIMAHORAENX<\/a> \ud835\udc00\ud835\udc0f\ud835\udc0e\ud835\udc18\ud835\udc00 \ud835\udc02\ud835\udc0e\ud835\udc0d \u2661\ufe0e\/RT, \ud835\udc06\ud835\udc11\ud835\udc00\ud835\udc02\ud835\udc08\ud835\udc00\ud835\udc12.\u141f<br><br>Markell Pierce, de 8 a\u00f1os, muri\u00f3 el viernes 6 de\u2026 <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/RMdRzruGRq\">pic.twitter.com\/RMdRzruGRq<\/a><\/p>&mdash; Noticias y Tendencias: \u24cdULTIMAHORAENX (@ULTIMAHORAENX) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/ULTIMAHORAENX\/status\/2021047483749761357?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">February 10, 2026<\/a><\/blockquote> <script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">When emergency services arrived at the house last week, the child was unconscious, visibly malnourished, and covered in bruises. An autopsy confirmed that starvation and physical abuse caused his death. His older sister was hospitalized due to signs of abuse.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The director of the preschool the children attended last year said she had previously informed the Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) because the children were consistently hungry. A few days after that report, their mother withdrew them from the preschool.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A three-year-old child was also in the home and is now under state protection. Prosecutors say there is currently no evidence that this child was abused.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Residents of Round Lake Beach gathered in front of the family\u2019s home, lighting candles and leaving toys in memory of the boy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><mark style=\"background-color:#FFFFFF;color:#d21414\" class=\"has-inline-color\">MORE TOPICS:<\/mark><\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/serbiantimes.info\/en\/the-immigration-law-is-not-fair-the-testimony-of-the-attorney-who-freed-a-serb-from-prison-in-the-u-s-and-secured-him-asylum-video\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">\u201cTHE IMMIGRATION LAW IS NOT FAIR!\u201d: The Testimony of the Attorney Who Freed a Serb from Prison in the U.S. and Secured Him Asylum! (VIDEO)<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/serbiantimes.info\/en\/won-gold-then-spoke-about-nole-american-skater-revealed-how-he-felt-when-he-saw-djokovic-in-the-audience-video\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">WON GOLD, THEN SPOKE ABOUT NOLE: American skater revealed how he felt when he saw Djokovic in the audience! (VIDEO)<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/serbiantimes.info\/en\/police-closed-part-of-vracar-a-bomb-was-found-in-front-of-a-catering-facility-in-the-center-of-belgrade\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">POLICE CLOSED PART OF VRA\u010cAR: A bomb was found in front of a catering facility in the center of Belgrade!<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/serbiantimes.info\/en\/drama-in-montenegro-a-car-full-of-people-plunged-into-the-icy-moraca-divers-and-drones-are-searching-for-survivors-video\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">DRAMA IN MONTENEGRO: A car full of people plunged into the icy Mora\u010da, divers and drones are searching for survivors! (VIDEO)<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/serbiantimes.info\/en\/nole-jumped-and-grabbed-his-head-american-skater-delighted-djokovic-with-an-incredible-flip-at-the-wog-video\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">NOLE JUMPED AND GRABBED HIS HEAD: American skater delighted Djokovic with an incredible flip at the WOG! (VIDEO)<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/serbiantimes.info\/en\/dodiks-party-declared-victory-sinisa-karan-is-the-new-president-of-republika-srpska\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">DODIK\u2019S PARTY DECLARED VICTORY: Sini\u0161a Karan is the new president of Republika Srpska!<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong><strong>Source<\/strong><\/strong>: Serbian Times; <strong>Foto<\/strong>: Printscreen X<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>An eight-year-old boy, Markel Pierce, has died in Round Lake Beach, Illinois, following prolonged abuse and neglect in his family home, the Lake County Prosecutor\u2019s Office reported, according to ABC7 Chicago. His mother, Dominique Servant (33), and her partner, Joey Ruffin (38), have been charged with murder and are being held in custody pending trial. [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2169,"featured_media":200957,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"newspack_featured_image_position":"","newspack_post_subtitle":"","newspack_article_summary_title":"Overview:","newspack_article_summary":"","newspack_hide_updated_date":false,"newspack_show_updated_date":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[71,1183,843,8633,23,321,11224],"class_list":["post-200956","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-america","tag-amerika","tag-cikago-3","tag-crna-hronika","tag-porodicno-nasilje-2","tag-sad","tag-zlostavljanje","tag-zlostavljanje-dece","entry"],"aioseo_notices":[],"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"Serbiantimes.info EN","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/serbiantimes.info\/en","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/serbiantimes.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/200956","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/serbiantimes.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/serbiantimes.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/serbiantimes.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2169"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/serbiantimes.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=200956"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/serbiantimes.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/200956\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":201031,"href":"https:\/\/serbiantimes.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/200956\/revisions\/201031"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/serbiantimes.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/200957"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/serbiantimes.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=200956"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/serbiantimes.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=200956"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/serbiantimes.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=200956"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}