The convict behind the gruesome 2004 slaying of 3-year-old Riley Fox, Scott Eby, took his final breath in prison, as per officials. Eby, who was serving a life sentence at Menard Correctional Center, died on Thursday. Initially blamed for the horrifying crime, Riley's father, Kevin Fox, spent over eight months behind bars after his arrest, following a supposed confession to authorities.
After being wrongfully accused, Fox was released due to DNA evidence that cleared his name, as per the WLS report. A later lawsuit for false arrest and malicious prosecution led to a $15.5 million jury award in favor of Kevin and his wife, Melissa Fox. This amount was later reduced, on appeal, to $8 million. Eby, only six years after the crime, was fingered as the suspect when the FBI received a tip during a reinvestigation into the case, despite evidence including shoes with Eby’s name floating in the creek where Riley was found.
According to the Sun-Times, Eby's confession detailed a night of burglary that led him to the Fox residence in Wilmington, where he entered easily due to a previously broken backdoor lock. He stumbled upon nothing of substantial value until his eyes set upon little Riley. Eby admitted to kidnapping, sexually assaulting, and drowning Riley in a creek.
The Will County State’s Attorney’s Office has confirmed Eby's passing but the Illinois Department of Corrections has remained silent on the details surrounding his cause of death. Known for another sexual assault at the time of his admission to Riley's murder, Eby's charges included first-degree murder and predatory sexual assault. At his sentencing, Riley’s mother, Melissa, confronted Eby, calling him a "coward and a monster", as found in a victim impact statement she delivered during the WLS interview.
Amidst heartbreak and tragedy, the death of Eby closes a chapter in a case that saw an innocent man’s world turned upside down and a family forever scarred. Kevin Fox, who had earlier hoped Eby would “rot in hell,” per the Sun-Times, met his own untimely demise this year in a car crash in Arkansas.
