Crime Fix with Angenette Levy - Woman Hid Son's Body in Trash Can After He Accidentally Shot Himself

Episode Date: April 10, 2024

Sushi Staples, 37, lied to police when they went to her home to investigate a call that her 10-year-old son's body was hidden in her home after the boy accidentally shot himself. Staples insisted she only had daughters when Rock Island Police asked about her son, Zion. Police returned with a warrant to search her home and interrogated Staples at her kitchen table. Law&Crime's Angenette Levy shows us Staples' denials and video from the search in this episode of Crime Fix — a daily show covering the biggest stories in crime.Get 50% off of confidential background reports at https://www.truthfinder.com/lcbodycam and access information about almost anyone!Host: Angenette Levy  https://twitter.com/Angenette5CRIME FIX PRODUCTION:Head of Social Media, YouTube - Bobby SzokeSocial Media Management - Vanessa BeinVideo Editing - Daniel CamachoAudio Editing - Brad MaybeGuest Booking - Alyssa Fisher & Diane KayeSTAY UP-TO-DATE WITH THE LAW&CRIME NETWORK:Watch Law&Crime Network on YouTubeTV: https://bit.ly/3td2e3yWhere To Watch Law&Crime Network: https://bit.ly/3akxLK5Sign Up For Law&Crime's Daily Newsletter: https://bit.ly/LawandCrimeNewsletterRead Fascinating Articles From Law&Crime Network: https://bit.ly/3td2IqoLAW&CRIME NETWORK SOCIAL MEDIA:Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lawandcrime/Twitter: https://twitter.com/LawCrimeNetworkFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/lawandcrimeTwitch: https://www.twitch.tv/lawandcrimenetworkTikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@LawandCrimeSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Wondery Plus subscribers can binge all episodes of this law and crimes series ad-free right now. Join Wondery Plus in the Wondery app, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify. Some lady called DCFS. What? And kind of made some claims that you had a child that accidentally shot themselves. Absolutely not. No, it sounds crazy to me too. That's Sushi Staples, a mom from Illinois caught on body camera denying she has a son.

The problem? She's lying. Man, this is crazy. I don't know. I think I'm being framed. I'll lay out the entire sad story that includes the death of Staples' 10-year-old son. Thanks for joining me for Crime Fix. I'm Anjanette Levy. The case of Sushi Staples and the accidental shooting death of her son Zion is so incredibly sad. Staples is serving a two-year prison sentence for Zion's death. She pleaded guilty to hiding his body in a trash can for eight months. But Staples actually wants out of prison early. I'll have more on that in a bit. The investigation into Sushi Staples started back on July 25th of 2023 in Rock Island, Illinois. Police received information from a woman who had known Staples for many years.

At first, it was just like a regular phone call, like, how you 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 will never be the same again. Um, she then stated to me, I said, why, what happened? And she was like hesitant to bring it out and tell me. She then told me that her son had, she was gone from the house and she told me that her son had shot himself. And who do you know her son as?

Zion. Okay. That friend of Staples told police that she confessed to hiding Zion's body. She stated that he shot himself at the time he was nine years old. I said, what do you mean he shot himself? I asked her several questions, like how did he get a gun? 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 he outside telling him to get back in the house but she told me before she

left he kept saying that how 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 stated to me then she said that um Serenity said no he's on the floor he's bleeding. She feared that they would take her kids away, and she was scared to lose everything. And I'm like, what are you talking about? And she said she still had them there. She told me she purchased a burning barrel from Home Depot or something like that, that you burn leaves and stuff in, and she stored them in that.

I'm like, what? And she said, yeah, he was storing that in her basement. She said she tried to set him on fire. Now, after hearing this, Rock Island police, of course, went to Staples' home to investigate. And she put on quite a show. Take a look. You miss Staples? home to investigate. And she put on quite a show. Take a look. You miss Staples?

Yes, how can I help you? So we got kind of a weird phone call. Do you know Latricia? No. No? I don't know anybody out here. Some lady called DCFS. What?

And kind of made some claims that you had a child that accidentally shot themselves. Absolutely not. It sounds crazy to me too that's what i am so sorry about this my ex-husband his new girlfriend this broad is off the chain i have went down to rock island and filed a police report on her okay i have went and put a restraining order on her. What's her name? Her name is Tony. This girl is never in. And she has so many different Facebook pages she stalks me from. She has made up different names, called me from different numbers. I have changed my number, tried to do everything I can. Unfortunately, I can never seem to get them served because they're always bouncing around in the Chicago area. Oh, okay. They're not even down here? They're not even out here. Staples insisted she did not

have a son and was indignant that police were even questioning her. Here's more of the exchange. You guys only have girls? Yes. Okay. I have four. Do you want to see them? No, no, no. They said it was a son. I was just curious if that's even true it's not okay i this this is i'm just i'm it's a never-ending story with no 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 got to come up and see if there's and this is crazy it is this is very crazy okay i have been living here for six years i've never my neighbors have never had a complaint. Don't you think that my neighbors would have heard something like that?

They would have made a call or said something to somebody. I would believe so, yeah. Just think about it. It don't make no kind of sense. This girl is psycho. Just so I can check the box off, can I look in your basement real quick and I'll get out of here? No, you need a search warrant to do that. I'm sorry.

I'm not about to have my rights violated because someone makes your reign as allegations like this. I know. Like I said, it sounded crazy to me, too. I'm just up here seeing if we have to investigate it. Now, police obviously didn't buy what Staples was selling. They had received a call about a child who hadn't been seen in many months. Can I see the warrant, please? And I can call my lawyer. Can I see the warrant before we walk any further? I'm calm. We have a valid search warrant. I want to take just a short, short break

from this Sushi Staples body camera video to tell you about something that can help you learn more about the people in your life and the people who might be living right next door to you. It's called truthfinder.com. Truthfinder is one of the largest public record search services in the world. Truthfinder has just one goal to help you and me learn the truth about the people in our lives. Log on to truthfinder.com and put in a name. Within minutes, maybe even seconds, you will get reports that include phone numbers, addresses, friends, family, criminal records, and more.

It would also show you sex offender statuses for people who may live in your neighborhood. The cases I cover make it incredibly clear that you have to do everything you can in your power to keep you and your loved ones safe. So right now, Law & Crime Bodycam viewers can get 50% off of confidential background reports at truthfinder.com slash LCBodycam and access information about almost anybody. So just log on and give it a try. Police returned the next day with a search warrant in hand. Staples, of course, told them that's what they needed to do if they wanted to look inside her home. I'm scared to death because I don't know what's going on. And so the reason we're here, OK, is because we're investigating a call that we we had. OK. Officers came out and talked to you last night, correct? Yes. OK. 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 where we're at right now Do you have a son named Zion? No, I don't You've never had a son named Zion?

No. Are you claiming benefits for a kid named Zion? No, I haven't gotten any benefits for anyone. Staples had an answer for everything. Police informed her that the Department of Children and Family Services in Chicago had had contact with her children, including Zion. Staples again blamed her ex's girlfriend, who she called a stalker. You filed for public aid. You got your daughter.

Getting benefits since I was in Chicago. So I'm not sure. I told you my identity was stolen. My taxes were illegally filed. I went through a whole thing with the IRS. That was not me. But who is this Zion that was interviewed by DCFS up in Chicago right in the presence of all your other children?

There was no one interviewed. No one was interviewed. Where did you say someone named Brian Staples was interviewed? It was... Because the call was made about my son Cantrell by his father. Yes. It was never made about a Zion Staple.

But when they went there, there was... The only child that they spoke to because it was regarding him had frequent visitors. We had kids in the neighborhood come over. Some of those kids that were implicated were not, in fact, our children. They were there. So you're saying there was a kid in your apartment that was not your kid named Zion Staples? I didn't say his name was Zion. No. Well, somewhere here, we've got to clear this up with the Zion Staples.

The detectives then confronted Staples about information they had received and the fact that she had texted someone about the police approaching her the night before. After that officer left last night, you texted this person and was talking to them. This is like the pictures of them now. Well, we have to take pictures of the whole house and then we'll search just to show that we're not breaking stuff and everything else like that. 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 harassing me again. That's why I told the officer last night. So I thought it was her harassing me again. That's why I told the officer last night.

So then who did you text? I thought it was Tony. Catch a break from this. Because we have the whole text thread between you two right after the officers left. It's pretty personal to each other, too. You guys very well know each other. But I thought. It's talking about somebody's daughter.

It's talking about.'s daughter it's talking about because people are shitty they say crap about your kids for what but you guys know each other it's not a random just i'm texting a stranger getting mad it's you two know each other you know what people come after me all the time and these are the same people I lend my hand to. I've paid for lawyers for people. I've helped people do things. So people envy you all the time. What can you do about it? Eventually, police told Staples she was going to jail. Oh, no, no, no. I'm going to jail. What am I going to jail for? What have I done? You just admitted to fraud. So now now you're gonna railroad me on fraud railroad you what we're trying to figure out where your kid is you're saying that he doesn't exist my kid

so now you're trying to railroad me railroad you what you did this to yourself just said he didn't i didn't get any benefits though i I didn't file any IRS returns. You're in possession of false documentation and you already said that you signed up and have them for financial aid. But I didn't. That's what I told you. Police searched Staples' house extensively, going from room to room, and then Staples was taken to jail. She was charged with several felonies, including concealment of a death, obstruction of justice, and failure to report the death of a child. Police found Zion's body in a metal trash can in Staples' home. He was wearing Spider-Man pajamas. The coroner determined

he died from a gunshot wound, likely suffered in December of 2022. Detectives also interviewed Staples' hairdresser, who offered some information. This past February, Sushi Staples was sentenced to two years in prison and six months of probation after pleading guilty to one charge. Last month, she asked the judge to reconsider her sentence because she is a first-time offender and she claims she had ineffective assistance of counsel. No decision has been made on her request just yet. She's scheduled to be released from prison in January. And that's it for this edition of Crime Fix. I'm Anjanette Levy. Thanks so much for being with us. We'll see you back here next time.