Foster parents want justice for child who died after IL DCFS removed him from their care
When Kiel Quigley’s 2-year-old nephew came to live with him last year, the toddler who loved loud trucks, cars and motorcycles couldn’t speak.
Quigley became Hunter Drew’s foster parent when the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services took protective custody from Hunter’s mom, according to accounts from family and official sources.
Severe ear infections that made it difficult to hear had left Hunter with the speech abilities of a 10-month-old. Kiel Quigley and his wife Hailee took Hunter to appointments for ear surgery and speech therapy, and they helped teach him baby sign language so he had a way to communicate before he could talk.
By the time Hunter left their home almost a year later to live with his biological dad and stepmom, he was speaking in two- and three-word phrases. And the Quigleys were confident that he would be ready to start kindergarten with the rest of his peers.
But Hunter died last week in Litchfield from blunt force trauma and a brain bleed. It was shortly after his 3rd birthday.
Hunter’s stepmom Ashley Bottoms, of Carlinville, is accused of throwing him into a half-wall while trying to break up a fight between two children and failing to take him to the hospital afterward.
Authorities believe his head hit the ledge of the wall, and then Bottoms allegedly drove him around in a car for three hours running errands, according to Macoupin County State’s Attorney Jordan Garrison.
Bottoms, 33, was charged in Macoupin County on Saturday with involuntary manslaughter and endangering the life of a child causing death. The charges suggest that law enforcement found evidence Hunter’s death was the result of an accident and a lack of response to it.
Bottoms, through her attorney Anne Clough, as well as Hunter’s biological mom and dad, didn’t respond to a request for comment for this article.
The Quigleys believe DCFS shares some of the responsibility for his death. The agency moved Hunter to his dad’s and stepmom’s home in August, about two months before he died.
DCFS involvement in the case
Kiel Quigley recalls reporting to DCFS that he was concerned about the decision to move Hunter because he says Bottoms expressed that she didn’t want any more children during a caseworker-supervised visit with Hunter at Quigley’s home. He thinks DCFS may have been motivated to close the case because it was costing state money and caseworker time to keep Hunter in the Quigleys’ care.
DCFS’ policy is to keep children with a parent or return them to a parent whenever possible, with support to address safety threats and risk factors.
DCFS spokesman Bill McCaffrey said the agency visited the dad’s and stepmom’s home six times in the two months Hunter lived there to ensure it was a safe environment; completed a “service plan and home safety checklist;” and then Montgomery County Judge Marc Kelly issued an order granting custody to the father, which closed the case.
Even after the case closed, DCFS remained involved with the family. A change in the law two years ago now requires the agency to keep in touch with families for six months after a child is placed in their care or returned to their care to make sure they’re getting any services they might need to keep the child safe.
DCFS’ last visit with Hunter was Oct. 14, six days before he died.
A DCFS service plan includes an assessment of possible risks and any services the family might need. Possible risks could include previous DCFS investigations finding evidence a child was abused or neglected in their care or a criminal history. And services can include housing assistance or therapy.
A home safety checklist evaluates the house for things like a working smoke detector and makes sure parents can recognize the signs of illness and know the ways children could hurt themselves in a home, like choking on buttons or coins and falling off changing tables if left alone.
‘This wasn’t just another kid, this was our kid’
DCFS first tries to place a child with a relative when it determines it’s not safe for the child at home. That’s how Hunter came to live with the Quigleys in October 2021.
Kiel Quigley said when they got the phone call asking if they could be foster parents, they were driving with their children, on their way to get haircuts. They turned the car around to go to Walmart instead, bought another car seat and picked Hunter up.
After changing their plans that first day, they would go on to change their diets — Hunter was severely lactose intolerant — and learn a new language for Hunter.
Quigley recalled this week that Hunter’s favorite thing to communicate through sign language was that the lights were on. Quigley thinks Hunter liked it because of how the family had reacted the first time he signed it.
It was the first sign he picked up.
“We got excited because we realized it was working,” Quigley said.
Hunter knew that sign made people happy, Quigley said, so he repeated it.
“This wasn’t just another kid, this was our kid. And I know we’re not the only family going through this, and it breaks my heart to know that we’re not the only family going through this,” Quigley said of children who have died following DCFS involvement with their families.
McCaffrey said DCFS’ watchdog, the inspector general, will investigate any time a child dies. The Quigleys say they would like to see investigations by the Illinois State Police and Attorney General as well.
Funeral arrangement announced
Hunter’s visitation and funeral services will take place next week at Davis-Anderson Funeral Home in Girard. The visitation is scheduled for 4-7 p.m. Monday, and the funeral will take place at 10 a.m. Tuesday. The family invited several bikers’ clubs to ride there for the boy who loved motorcycles.
The Quigleys are collecting donations through a GoFundMe fundraiser to pay for Hunter’s funeral expenses and cover any future legal expenses.
This story was originally published October 28, 2022 at 6:00 AM.
