Judge unhappy with pace of DCFS investigation 11 days after boy, 3, dies in fire

A Cook County judge and a Department of Child and Family Services lawyer continued to spar in court Thursday over questions that remain unanswered in the death of a 3-year-old boy in a Grand Crossing apartment fire earlier this month.

Maqkwone Jones was pronounced dead at Comer Children’s Hospital after the fire in the 1400 block of East 67th Place. He allegedly had been left alone by his foster mother with one of her relatives who didn’t know he was there.

At a July 13 hearing, Judge Patrick Murphy said the DCFS investigation into the boy’s death had been insufficient, and asked all relevant information be submitted to the lawyers by Tuesday.

Murphy was pleased overall with the new report DCFS presented Thursday, but said information regarding the whereabouts of Maqkwone’s siblings at the time of the fire and why Maqkwone was left alone remained unclear and “raised more questions than answers.”

DCFS supervisory regional counsel Colleen Flaherty explained the department had received conflicting accounts and couldn’t release any information to the court until it was verified.

When Murphy said he thought DCFS knew more than they were telling him, Flaherty retorted: “You’re welcome to become part of the investigation.”

Murphy also grilled Flaherty on: why the other siblings were with a different relative at the time of the fire; the veracity of new accounts that the foster mother actually had told the relative Maqkwone was there; and why a 3-year-old boy would uncharacteristically be asleep at 10:30 a.m., the time of the fire.

Flaherty answered every question by rephrasing the same basic idea: it was only 11 days into the investigation and the department kept getting conflicting accounts.

Murphy asked why the department would ponder different accounts if all his questions could easily be answered by the foster mother.

“All I want to know is where and why,” he said. “These are simple questions. This is not investigating Russian involvement in our elections.”

DCFS General Counsel Shawn Eddings said DCFS generally has 60 days to conduct an investigation. Withholding information until it’s verified is standard practice, she added, and grieving family members often provide conflicting accounts.

The hearing also addressed the need to investigate what services the foster mother had been provided when the children were first placed in her care. Maqkwone’s two oldest siblings have struggled with mental health and behavior in the past and were prescribed medication they obtained through Medicaid. However, it was found that the Department of Human Services was often slow to sign off on their approval, often leaving the boys without their medication for spans as long as a week.

Investigation into those matters is continuing and will be discussed, along with a potential return home motion, at the continuation of the case August 21.