Homer Glen father charged with felony in toddler’s death had prior contact with DCFS

Homer Glen — Edward Weiher, 49, and his girlfriend, Alexa Balen, 27, were charged Nov. 7 with endangering the life and health of a child, as well as possession of both cocaine and heroin following the death of their 2-year-old child, Trinity Balen-Weiher, at their Homer Glen residence.

While neither of the parents have previous felony convictions in Will County, Edward Weiher has in the past been accused by his ex-wife of posing a danger to their two children during the couple’s divorce proceedings

According to Will County Circuit Court documents, Edward Weiher separated from Jennifer Weiher after 14 years of marriage in August 2020, although she did not file for divorce until March 2021. The divorce was not finalized until October 2023.

In May 2023, Edward Weiher’s parenting time was limited by the court and he was prohibited from driving with his and Jennifer Weiher’s two minor children, who were then ages 14 and 9, after he was involved in the crashes of two vehicles in a three-hour window on March 6, 2023, and “left the scene of the second accident,” according to court documents.

Edward Weiher has a long record of traffic violations with Will County court documents listing 13 cases on his record between 1992 and 2023, including drag racing, excessive speeding, and running a stop sign. The last of those cases, which involved driving with a suspended license, had not been filed at the time the restriction with his two children was put in place, according court documents.

In addition to this limitation, Jennifer Weiher petitioned the court June 2, 2023, to be granted sole responsibility and decision-making rights for the children, stating, “Edward has exhibited on numerous occasions his inability to make responsible decisions that are in the best interest of his minor children,” court documents show. She was granted primary custody and decision-making responsibilities, according to court documents. He maintained visitation rights.

In addition, the petition stated “Edward has engaged in behavior that poses a risk to his minor children’s wellbeing,” and that he “has an inability to be truthful about his past and current behavior and an inability to provide a safe environment for his minor children in and outside of his home.”

Examples of alleged dangerous behavior, according to the court filing, included failing to provide meals or providing late, insufficient meals for the children during his parenting time, being “consistently late without notice” for parenting exchanges, skipping his time with his daughters, “driving around with the minor children in his vehicle overnight until approximately 6 a.m. the following day” and leaving the children unattended for up to an hour at a time while he worked.

The petition also alleged that Edward Weiher would leave the children alone for hours at a time with Balen and refused to respond to any calls or texts from Balen and the children.

Jennifer Weiher also noted in her petition that the Department of Child and Family Services had been called to Weiher and Balen’s home in the 12000 block of West Thorn Apple Drive in Homer Glen on May 3, 2023 and removed her children. The agency also removed Balen and Edward Weiher’s shared then 1-year-old child, and Balen’s child from a previous relationship from the home due to it being deemed “unfit,” according to the petition.

DCFS had previously been called to the home after the birth of the baby when hospital employees reported that he was born with drugs in his system, according to court documents.

The baby in question is the 2-year-old Trinity who died at 12:24 a.m. Nov. 7 at Silver Cross Hospital in New Lenox after being found unresponsive in the Homer Glen home shared by Balen and Edward Weiher.

The cause and manner of the child’s death is pending the results of autopsy and toxicological reports.

Balen’s other child, now 6 years old, was removed from the home again by DCFS following the Nov. 7 incident. Significant evidence of drug use was discovered in the home when police came to investigate the unresponsive child, and the residence was described by officers as being full of rotting food and garbage.

In the divorce settlement, Jennifer Weiher was granted primary custody of her daughters and the right to make their decisions, although Edward Weiher was granted unsupervised time with them, according to court documents.

Weiher is currently being held at the Will County jail, while Balen was taken to the hospital for an undisclosed medical condition. A warrant has been issued for her arrest.