Jury Finds Chicago Man Guilty in Danville Toddler Death from 2022

THE FOLLOWING IS A NEWS-GAZETTE ARTICLE BY JENNIFER BAILEY

DANVILLE — A jury Friday found a 32-year-old Chicago man guilty of murder in the 2022 alleged beating death of a 2-year-old.

A sentencing hearing for Dantrail Johnson will be on March 23 before Judge Mark Goodwin.

The jury heard closing arguments Friday and deliberated for a little more than three hours. Johnson was found guilty on Count III First Degree Murder – Strong Probability. The state had elected to proceed on Count III with Count I First Degree Murder – Intent to Kill and Count II First Degree Murder – Knowing Death were dropped.

In opening statements earlier this week, Vermilion County Assistant State’s Attorney Tom O’Connor said 2-year-old Cali Sago experienced a “brief life and horribly violent death.”

“It was a life too early taken (and) taken at the hands of this man, Dantrail Johnson,” O’Connor told a jury Wednesday morning.

Johnson initially was charged with aggravated battery and bodily harm to a child, after the victim was found unresponsive and a subsequent 911 call was made on Aug. 11, 2022, from an apartment on Garden Drive in Danville. Cali underwent CPR and other life-saving measures and was airlifted from Danville to a Peoria hospital. She was placed on a ventilator and died a month later on Sept. 11, 2022, when her parents took her off life support due to brain damage, according to a doctor in the case.

The aggravated battery charge stated Johnson “knowingly caused bodily harm or disability or disfigurement” to Cali between Aug. 4, 2022, and Aug. 11, 2022.

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