Death of 17-year-old Grayslake boy ruled homicide

The August death of a 17-year-old boy who was shot in the head before being pulled from a house fire in north suburban Grayslake has been ruled a homicide.

Firefighters responded at 12:34 a.m. Aug. 22 to the fire in the 300 block of Normandy Lane, according to Grayslake police.

Officers rescued 17-year-old Zackary Bollam from the blaze, but discovered he had been shot in the head, police said.

Bollam was taken to Loyola University Medical Center in Maywood, where he died at 3:02 p.m. Aug. 26, according to police and the Cook County medical examiner’s office.

An autopsy did not immediately rule on his cause and manner of death, but has since found that he died of complications of a gunshot wound to the head, according to the medical examiner’s office. Carbon monoxide intoxication and inhalation injuries due to an intentionally set house fire were listed as a contributing factor, and his death was ruled a homicide.

A .38-caliber pistol was recovered from the home, police said.

The boy’s grandmother, 64-year-old Deborah St. Antoine-Browne, was interviewed by detectives at Loyola on Aug. 24, and her fingerprints and DNA were taken, police said.

About 4:50 p.m. that same day, St. Antoine-Browne jumped to her death from the hospital’s parking garage, according to police and the medical examiner’s office. Her death was ruled a suicide.

DCFS also notified police that prior to her death, St. Antoine-Browne gave her granddaughter a bottle of prescription medication and instructed her to take it all, police said. The granddaughter ingested some of the medicine before seeking medical attention.

St. Antoine-Browne was the legal guardian of her grandson and granddaughter, police said.