1-year-old girl’s death in Austin ruled homicide

The death of a 1-year-old girl early Wednesday in the Austin neighborhood on the West Side has been ruled a homicide.

Officers responded about 9 p.m. Tuesday to an apartment in the 1300 block of North Lorel and the found the girl unresponsive, according to Chicago Police.

Malaysia Williams was pronounced dead at 3:18 a.m. Wednesday, the Cook County Medical Examiner’s Office said.

An autopsy Thursday found she died of multiple injuries from child abuse and her death was ruled a homicide, the medical examiner’s office said. She lived in the Southwest Side Chicago Lawn neighborhood.

The state’s Department of Child and Family Services was investigating for allegations of abuse and neglect, agency spokeswoman Alissandra Calderon said. The investigation was pending.

Calderon said the agency has not had prior contact with the girl.

Police were not able to provide additional information about the girl’s death Thursday night, which was under investigation by Area North detectives. No one was in custody.