Mother held in child body case sought in 2 Illinois counties

LAS VEGAS -- A mother jailed in Las Vegas awaiting transfer to Illinois to face charges of concealing the death of a child whose body was found in a garage at an abandoned St. Louis-area property had been named in criminal warrants in two Illinois counties, according to documents obtained Wednesday.

Elizabeth Odell-Quate, 35, was arrested June 6 as a fugitive from another state after telling Las Vegas police where the body of her daughter could be found in Centreville, Illinois.

She was initially held on a felony forgery warrant issued in June 2016 in St. Clair County, Illinois. But she and her husband, Jason Scott Quate, 34, now also face felony charges in Illinois of concealing a homicidal death.

The mother also was named in warrant issued in December 2015 on a larceny charge in Madison County, Illinois, where the sheriff's office in Edwardsville told authorities in Las Vegas they wouldn't seek her extradition, records show.

She is referred to in both cases as Elizabeth Quate.

Jason Quate appears in court on child abuse charges Monday in Las Vegas.John Locher ~ Associated Press

She used the name Odell-Quate when she told a Las Vegas judge Monday she won't fight her return in custody before July 12 to Belleville, an impoverished community across the Mississippi River from St. Louis.

The child hasn't been formally identified, and the cause of her death hasn't been determined.

Elizabeth Odell-Quate told police Jason Quate killed their 6-year-old daughter, Alysha, and hid the body in the garage several years before they and their two other daughters moved in January 2016 to Las Vegas.

Jason Quate was arrested June 6 and charged with forcing his wife into prostitution. He is being held without bail. His public defender in that case has said he will plead not guilty.

Police said Jason Quate admitted during a recorded interview with investigators he killed the girl and concealed the body, according to an arrest report obtained Tuesday by AP.

Jason Quate told a reporter for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch last week Alysha choked to death on food in her mouth when he spanked her. However, in an earlier interview with a Las Vegas TV station, he said his wife told him the child had been put up for adoption.

Jason Quate is due in court again Friday on child abuse and possession of child pornography charges. Prosecutors have said other criminal charges could be filed. He has not had a lawyer appointed to represent him in those cases.

Pertinent address:

Centreville, Ill.