Nobody on Hickory Street saw it coming. Not the neighbors who watched him run around outside. Not the folks who saw him play catch just days before. Leland Arnett was just a little boy living a little boy’s life in De Soto, Illinois — and then, on the night of May 13, everything changed forever.
Just after 11 p.m. that Wednesday, Jackson County Sheriff’s deputies rushed to a home on Hickory Street after a 911 call came in. What they found inside was devastating. Deborah Arnett — Leland’s mother — was unconscious on the floor. And Leland, her young son, was right there with her, suffering severe head wounds. Both of them had been beaten with a baseball bat. Both of them were rushed to the hospital fighting for their lives.
Leland didn’t make it. Days after that brutal attack, the little boy died from his injuries, leaving a gaping hole in a community that was still trying to process what had happened. His family confirmed his passing with heartbreak no parent should ever have to carry. “It is with profound heartbreak that we share that Leland has passed away,” his family said, adding that Deborah remains hospitalized, still fighting for her own life.
The man accused of walking into that home and swinging that bat is Marcus Lee Moultrie, 36, a De Soto man who had been in a relationship with Deborah. He’s the last person you’d think would do something like this, according to neighbor Katherine Healy, who said she used to watch Moultrie outside playing with the kids, tossing a ball around, being the kind of guy who seemed to belong in the neighborhood. “Very sad,” Healy said. “I mean, they just had a baby a year ago.”
Moultrie was arrested the night of the attack and booked into Jackson County Jail. He originally faced two counts of attempted murder, but once Leland died, prosecutors didn’t waste any time. Jackson County State’s Attorney Marsha Cascio-Hale moved swiftly to upgrade the charges. Moultrie now faces two counts of first-degree murder, along with an enhancement allegation tied to what prosecutors described as exceptionally brutal and heinous behavior showing wanton cruelty. A judge has already denied him pretrial release, meaning he’s staying locked up while the case moves forward.
The Jackson County Sheriff’s Office says the investigation is still active and is asking anyone with information about the attack to come forward and contact detectives. Prosecutors say they’ll be reviewing medical findings and investigative reports before presenting everything to a grand jury. It’s a process that takes time — but for the Arnett family, time has already taken the one thing they can never get back.
A GoFundMe page was set up to help the family cover funeral costs, ongoing medical expenses for Deborah, and other needs piling up during an unimaginably painful stretch. The family used that platform to not only thank the community for an outpouring of support and donations, but also to speak directly about the weight of what happened. “No family should ever have to endure this kind of pain,” they wrote, calling attention to the real and devastating toll of domestic violence. Leland was deeply loved. His loss, his family says, has left an immeasurable hole in their hearts — and in the hearts of everyone in De Soto who knew him.
