Shyanna Durst, 11 months old, Galesburg. Died Feb. 9, 2003
A neighbor who was the subject of a child abuse investigation agreed to baby-sit Shyanna. A DCFS caseworker allowed this arrangement. An inspector general's report stated the baby sitter, who had a sleep disorder, was lethargic because she was overweight. The report also stated she spent her family's benefits check on calls to psychic hot lines. When a DCFS supervisor learned the baby sitter's live-in boyfriend had a felony record for selling crack cocaine, the supervisor implemented a "safety plan" that required another adult -- a relative or friend -- to be with her children at all times. However, the baby sitter refused to allow a caseworker into her home to make sure another adult was there. Shyanna accidentally choked to death on loose binding from a mattress while the baby sitter slept.
DCFS DISCIPLINE: None
Leila Hoefer, 8 months old, Lena. Died Jan. 8, 2004
Her mother's boyfriend, Bradford Brush, burned and bruised Leila. Afterward, three DCFS investigators worked the case separately. The first limited the probe to an interview with the mother, who denied inflicting the injuries. The investigator accepted the mother's statement that she knew Brush only by his nickname. The second investigator failed to check a state child abuse computer. This contained a local police report that Leila's biological father told an officer that Brush, who he knew had a drug conviction, was often inebriated while caring for Leila. The same DCFS investigator later talked to Brush but got the spelling of his name wrong. This resulted in a failure to obtain Brush's criminal record. A third investigator made a subsequent record check that showed Brush has been convicted of violent crimes. But this check wasn't made until weeks later -- on the morning Leila died. Brush was sentenced in 2004 to 11 years for involuntary manslaughter.
DCFS DISCIPLINE: An investigator received discipline.
Brandon McBride, 10, Timothy McBride, 8, Pierre Walker, 10, Chicago. The boys died after a fire on July 19, 2000
A DCFS licensing worker failed to ensure that a foster home had working smoke detectors. The worker rushed a licensing inspection because "the foster mother was in a hurry," an investigative report stated. The three children died after a fire July 19, 2000, that destroyed the home. After the fire, a second licensing worker employed by DCFS told an investigator that she "was unfamiliar as to how to check (smoke detectors) to find out if they are operational." A state fire marshal's probe concluded that the home had no smoke detectors. "The worker's admitted failure to check for fire hazards in the home may have cost three children their lives," the inspector general concluded.
DCFS DISCIPLINE: Faced with discipline, the second licensing worker resigned. A child protection investigator received counseling.
Cree Lynn Scott, 10 months old, Olney. Died Aug. 24, 2000 -- A DCFS child abuse investigation began when Cree Lynn came to a hospital with bruising. Caseworkers sent her to live with a relative, and her mother agreed to counseling. But despite a supervisor's concerns, the DCFS assigned the mother's former private therapist to be her new caseworker. Because of the prior relationship, "The caseworker accepted all of the mother's self-reports about substance abuse, employment and the baby's health care, and neglected to verify information when obvious discrepancies arose," the inspector general reported. This optimistic but false picture resulted in Cree Lynn being returned home. A few weeks later, her mother's boyfriend shoved a wad of tissue paper down the infant's throat to make her stop crying. The baby choked to death. The boyfriend, Chad Jones, pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter.
DCFS DISCIPLINE: Faced with discipline, the caseworker resigned. The supervisor received counseling.
Dakota Jean Hedger, 5 months old, Carrier Mills. Died October 2000
Before Dakota was born, a call to the state child abuse hot line about the Hedger family alleged substandard living conditions. The assigned investigator interviewed the family and arranged for the father, Daniel Hedger, to receive alcohol treatment. A second hot line call, four months after Dakota was born, alleged that the mother attempted suicide and failed to give proper care to the child, who was born with lung disease that required the use of oxygen. The mother denied the allegations. A second investigator determined that despite the hot line call, everything was OK. Two weeks later, Dakota came to the hospital suffering from numerous injuries, including "friction burns on her nose, a bruise on her left ear, a puncture wound on the bottom of her foot, a split lip, fingertip bruises on her back and a tear on the underside of her tongue." The DCFS investigator sent the mother and child to live with a grandparent. But two days later, mother and child had returned to live with Daniel Hedger. A supervisor sent the caseworker to interview Hedger again. But the worker failed to find Dakota's father for three days. On the evening of the third day, he received a call from the Sheriff's Department that Dakota was dead and that Hedger had been charged with her death. Hedger was sentenced to 25 years for murder.
DCFS DISCIPLINE: The investigator received counseling.
Tina Winston, 11, Palatine.
Died July 10, 2000
Two staff members at a residential facility for developmentally disabled children used by DCFS attempted to restrain Tina. The girl was extremely disruptive and took psychotropic medication. But the workers were unfamiliar with the restraint -- a choke hold -- and Tina died. Her death prompted four pages of recommendations from the inspector general about how to deal with children who are mentally disabled.
DCFS DISCIPLINE: None
Miracle Moon, 2, Chicago.
Died Dec. 5, 2000
The DCFS ordered the girl's young mother, a former ward of the state with a history of cocaine addiction and suicide attempts, into drug treatment. The inspector general could find no evidence that she ever attended. The DCFS provided services but told the mother the agency's involvement would end when she turned 21. "At the time the mother's case was closed, she was jobless and homeless. She was noncompliant with her medication and unable to adequately care for her two children." A year later, and after being beaten for months, her mother's boyfriend pushed Miracle's head under cold water until she drowned. During an arraignment for the mother and her new boyfriend, a prosecutor said that Miracle was killed because she was slow at potty training. An autopsy showed the toddler had 50 human bite marks on her buttocks alone. The child's mother, Maria Moon, was sentenced to 10 years for aggravated battery of a child. Her boyfriend, Robert Smith, 38, was sentenced to 32 years for murder.
DCFS DISCIPLINE: None
Dontrell Holloway, 3, Chicago.
Died July 6, 1999
At birth, Dontrell tested positive for the drug PCP, or angel dust. His mother, who had five other children, became a mother at age 14. Dontrell went twice to an emergency room with abdominal pains that hospital staff attributed to child abuse. A DCFS probe began and an investigator made two visits to the home but did not check the mother's boyfriend's criminal or DCFS child abuse records. Curiously, on the same day that the investigator claimed he made his second and last visit, a private agency caseworker wrote in her case notes that she had "unsuccessfully attempted to locate the mother at her last known address and listed her whereabouts as uncertain," the inspector general reported. A supervisor described her as "the worst" caseworker in the office. While Dontrell's mother was away from home for four days using heroin, her boyfriend beat Dontrell to death, police said. He was convicted of murder. Dontrell's mother was convicted of aggravated battery of a child.
DCFS DISCIPLINE: None
Jamesha Bishop, 6 months old, Chicago. Died Aug. 8, 1999
A DCFS caseworker searched four months before finally locating the girl's 18-year-old mother, Valerie Mays, at a hospital where she had just given birth to twin girls, Jamesha and Jasmine. The mother initially refused to say where she would be living, then relented and said she and her girls would be living with the babies' father's family. The caseworker's notes stated there was a required child safety assessment performed, but the inspector general could find no record of it. The caseworker also told the inspector general's investigators that she had visited the father's residence but didn't get his full name or Social Security number to complete a background check. At a court hearing to determine whether the young mother was fit for guardianship, the caseworker told the judge she didn't have an opinion on what should be done, and the judge closed the case. Four months later, during a raging outburst, the mother took Jamesha by the feet and used her to club Jasmine. Jamesha died, and Jasmine suffered a severe head injury but recovered. The twins' mother, Valerie Mays, was convicted of murder.
DCFS DISCIPLINE: The supervisor received discipline.
Cheril Hobbs, 13, Chicago.
Died Sept. 1, 1999
A 13-year-old girl who lived in the same foster home stabbed Cheril to death. Juvenile authorities charged the girl with murder. An inspector general's investigation concentrated not only on the murder but the aftermath. "The caseworker demonstrated a shocking unfamiliarity with the case," the inspector general reported. Meanwhile, the girl accused of murder transferred to a public school in Chicago and was allowed to mingle with students. School authorities eventually learned about the murder charge and isolated the girl from the other students. While the girl was the first juvenile in Illinois to give a videotaped statement in a murder case, a judge found her not guilty on Nov. 2, 2000.
DCFS DISCIPLINE: None
Kenya Riley, 3, Blue Island.
Died Oct. 14, 1999
After a sheriff's deputy serving an eviction notice found Kenya and her 10-year-old brother home alone, he called the state child abuse hot line. The DCFS investigator searched for six weeks but could not locate the family. However, he failed to check an older sister's school and did not determine whether the family received a state benefits check, which he could have intercepted until he obtained a valid address. He finally learned of Kenya's whereabouts from a coroner. She died of head trauma. Police investigated the mother and her boyfriend but filed no charges.
DCFS DISCIPLINE: None
Andrea Malek, 2, Chicago.
Died Dec. 4, 1999
For three weeks before she died, the physically handicapped girl had been the subject of five state child abuse hot line calls. The inspector general reported that the investigator failed to interview the doctor who first observed Andrea's injuries "and never spoke to him prior to the girl's death." The day after the investigator visited the home, Andrea went to a hospital with a fractured right femur. A few days later, a second investigator finally contacted the aunt who had made some of the hot line calls. The relative later described the DCFS worker "as dismissive of her concerns, stating, in his professional opinion, there was no danger in that house." An autopsy showed head trauma, a broken leg, a fractured wrist and ribs, and a detached optic nerve. Andrea's parents, Lois and Richard Malek, were convicted of her murder and are serving prison terms.
DCFS DISCIPLINE: The second child protection investigator received counseling.
Antonio Moseley, 2 months old, Chicago Heights. Died Sept. 8, 1998
A teenage girl who was living in the same foster home beat Antonio to death. A therapist had recommended that the "severely emotionally disturbed girl" be placed in a home where she was the only child. But a DCFS caseworker and supervisor ignored the warning and "failed to monitor the home in a meaningful way," according to an investigation. The caseworker did not have time to check on Antonio because of "additional demands on (her) time preparing for a national accreditation process."
DCFS DISCIPLINE: None
William Jackson, 2 , Matteson. Died October 1998
William, a foster child, died a week after the 11-year-old daughter of his foster mother placed him in scalding water. An inspector general's investigator reviewed the records of a private agency that had placed William in the foster home. "Instead of having access to the whole file on the foster mother, each worker was allowed to enter just their case notes," the report stated, adding, "The workers, therefore, did not have historical or contextual knowledge on which to base their decision making." William's foster brother, who was malnourished, had upper arms that "were the circumference of a quarter," according to a physician's report. The foster mother had pleaded guilty to a charge of possession of a controlled substance just before being licensed, but a system to catch such arrests "was loose and rarely worked in practice," the inspector general concluded.
DCFS DISCIPLINE: Three private agency workers resigned.
