* Mark Maxwell at WCIA…
A 36-year-old child protection specialist with the Department of Children and Family Services was stabbed to death while performing a home visit in Thayer on Tuesday afternoon. The Sangamon County Coroner’s office performed an autopsy on Wednesday morning, and plans to identify the woman after completing the autopsy.
Six children, ages 1 to 7 years old, were present in the home in the 300 block of West Elm Street, according to Sangamon County Sheriff Jack Campbell. Officers investigated the stabbing in the small rural town just after 4 p.m. on Tuesday.
Police officers from Pawnee, Divernon, Auburn, and deputies from the Sangamon County Sheriff’s Office all responded to the scene and had to force their way inside the home where they found the victim’s body, but no sign of the suspect.
Later that night, Decatur police took 32-year-old Benjamin Reed into custody in connection with the stabbing. Officers located him at a hospital in Decatur where he was seeking medical treatment for a minor wound. Sangamon county detectives traveled to Decatur and interviewed Reed about the incident. Reed was due in court for a bond hearing Wednesday morning.
This post will be updated.
* WICS…
Approximately 15 minutes later arriving officers noticed something that appeared to be blood near the door of the home.
Once they were inside they found the body of a 36-year-old woman.
A search of the home helped authorities identify Reed as the possible suspect.
*** UPDATE 1 *** Marc D. Smith, Director of DCFS…
The Department of Children and Family Services is deeply saddened by the tragic death of our colleague, Deidre Silas. Our most heartfelt condolences, thoughts and prayers are with her family during this very difficult time. Social work is more than just a job, it is a calling. Deidre responded to this call and dedicated herself to the children, families and communities she served, and we will be forever grateful for her work. She was an incredible person, and her brightness and positivity will be missed not only by her family and friends, but also her second family at DCFS.
*** UPDATE 2 *** AFSCME Council 31 Executive Director Roberta Lynch…
“We are heartbroken at the loss of Illinois Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) investigator and AFSCME member Deidre Silas of Springfield, murdered Tuesday while responding to a report of children in danger.
“The perpetrator of this unspeakable crime must be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.
“Deidre dedicated her career to helping young people. Prior to joining DCFS in August 2021 she worked in behavioral health and for more than seven years with the Department of Juvenile Justice where she was a union steward.
“This tragedy is a stark reminder that frontline DCFS employees like Deidre do demanding, dangerous and essential jobs every day, often despite inadequate resources and tremendous stress.
“AFSCME will carefully study the facts of this incident as they emerge and press for any necessary changes to DCFS operations. One death in the line of service is too many.
“Our union is providing support to Deidre’s coworkers to help them process this trauma and aid their grieving.
“The hearts and thoughts of every AFSCME member are with Deidre’s loved ones, especially her children, in the wake of their profound and senseless loss. In her name we rededicate ourselves to our vigilant advocacy to improve workplace safety for all.”
*** UPDATE 3 *** Gov. JB Pritzker…
“Today, the State of Illinois mourns the loss of Deidre Silas, a DCFS caseworker and a hero, taken from us in the line of duty. There is no higher calling than the work to keep children and families safe and Deidre lived that value every single day,” said Governor JB Pritzker. “Our most vulnerable are safer because she chose to serve. I can think of no more profound legacy. MK and I send our deepest condolences to her colleagues at DCFS, her family, and all who loved her.”
* Illinois Collaboration on Youth…
The entire child welfare community mourns the tragic death of Diedra Silas, who was killed yesterday while trying to protect children at risk. We are heartbroken that her commitment to children’s safety has cost her life, and left her own two children motherless. We will keep Ms. Silas and all who loved her in our hearts and thoughts.
* Comptroller Susana Mendoza…
Today is a day for everyone in Illinois to stand with the selfless workers at the Department of Children and Family Services who give so much of themselves to keep our children safe. My deepest sympathies and prayers go out to the family, friends and co-workers of Deidre Silas, killed as she checked in on children who she cared so deeply about. She gave voice to children who needed a hero to protect them. May she rest in peace in all of God’s glory.
* Lt. Governor Juliana Stratton…
“Today, our Illinois family mourns the loss of DCFS caseworker Deidre Silas, who was killed on the job while trying to make a difference. She was a brave, essential worker dedicated to helping children, their families, and their communities,” said Lt. Governor Juliana Stratton. “Our state is a better place because of Deidre Silas. My family and I are sending our prayers and condolences to her family, DCFS coworkers, and everyone whose life she touched.”
- ArchPundit - Wednesday, Jan 5, 22 @ 11:22 am:
Awful news and I’m sorry for her family and colleagues. How often have DCFS workers been killed on duty?
- Give Me A Break - Wednesday, Jan 5, 22 @ 11:23 am:
An terrible tragedy. DCFS case workers and investigators face danger every time they make in-person visits.
May Ms Silas rest in peace and the people of Illinois never forget the price she paid to protect children.
- Jocko - Wednesday, Jan 5, 22 @ 11:45 am:
Talk about contrasts. Diedre Silas died a hero in service of others, while the suspect (whose name doesn’t bear repeating until convicted) was a contemptable coward who abandoned his children.
- NorthsideNoMore - Wednesday, Jan 5, 22 @ 12:02 pm:
Prayers for Ms Silas her family and friends.
- Candy Dogood - Wednesday, Jan 5, 22 @ 12:53 pm:
Deidre Silas died at work while performing her job duties in an unsafe work environment. Deidre Silas was not supposed to be risking her life in order to carry out her job duties. DCFS has routinely failed to meet federal court orders and consent decrees and has several hundred caseworker positions that are not filled, have not been posted, and DCFS does not even have the HR apparatus in place to fill those positions in a reasonable time frame.
While I appreciate the Governor of our state exalting this public servant as a hero, I hope he understands that the agency he is responsible for has put her in those unsafe working conditions, is chronically understaffed and that those staffing issues contribute to exhaustion, fatigue, and burnout of the existing staff as they repeatedly have additional hours mandated and the agency does not have the staffing to effectively carry out it’s mission.
I hope that the death of yet another DCFS employee will galvanize the Governor’s administration to actually implement their efforts to fix the agency instead of letting it muddle through. No amount of praise, no amount of kind words, no amount of public honors or awards will return Diedre Silas to her family.
DCFS cannot continue to flounder along at the peril of the children of our state and the people who serve Illinois.
I would like to hear what Governor Pritzker plans to do about this — without him being able to talk about holding the murderer criminally culpable. I want to know what he plans to do about DCFS and how he plans to hire and train the hundreds of those investigators.
- Siualum - Wednesday, Jan 5, 22 @ 1:02 pm:
People that do that job are incredibly brave. One can only imagine what sorts of dangerous situations they encounter. In the Sterling-Dixon area we remember DCFS worked Pam Knight, who suffered a similar fate a few years ago.
- Just Me 2 - Wednesday, Jan 5, 22 @ 1:04 pm:
Do yourself a favor and don’t look at the comments on Twitter about this unfortunate death. Some folks really need help.
- Leslie K - Wednesday, Jan 5, 22 @ 1:35 pm:
Terrible. Prayers to her family and coworkers.
The public debate about the problems at DCFS too often overlook the danger it puts DCFS workers in, not just the children they try to help. With everyone involved in potential peril, how does fixing DCFS never seem to rise to the top of the “important things” pile for governors?
- Nick Name - Wednesday, Jan 5, 22 @ 1:50 pm:
Prayers for Deidre Silas.
Prayers for the six children she died trying to protect.
- Lurker - Wednesday, Jan 5, 22 @ 2:08 pm:
Governor/legislature, fund DCFS properly
- Kent Gray - Wednesday, Jan 5, 22 @ 2:14 pm:
Prayers and public thanks for Diedra Silas. She took on one of the toughest jobs in society.
I’d be 100% for reinstating the death penalty for the perpetrator.
- Anonymous - Wednesday, Jan 5, 22 @ 2:35 pm:
Diedra Silas RIP, hope the state takes care of her kids better than they took car of her. So frustrating, so sad, so senseless. CMS needs to be disbanded and each agency in charge of there own hiring so critical positions can actually get filled in a timely manner. and yes Lurker is absolutely right the agency needs a lot more funding.
- itsjustme - Wednesday, Jan 5, 22 @ 2:37 pm:
I volunteer as a CASA (court-appointed special advocate) representing children in protective custody, and a few weeks ago, when I called a DCFS caseworker’s cell, he answered out of breath. “Sorry, I was just running from dogs,” he told me. He had been making a home visit, and got confronted by angry dogs from both directions, but managed to make it into his car. Prayers for Diedra Silas, all the children on her caseload, all her coworkers and their families.
- Crispy - Wednesday, Jan 5, 22 @ 2:58 pm:
Thumbs up to Candy Dogood, Lurker and Anonymous. This horrible tragedy didn’t “just happen”; it was facilitated by a criminally dysfunctional, neglected and underfunded system whose chiefs routinely send heroic front-line workers like Ms. Silas into mortal danger without backup.
- Former DCFS - Wednesday, Jan 5, 22 @ 2:59 pm:
Everyone loves to talk trash about DCFS, but the DCFS and private agency case workers, and especially the DCP investigators, have some of the worst jobs in the state, are constantly overworked, and wildly underpaid for the work they do.
- Future Social Worker - Wednesday, Jan 5, 22 @ 3:01 pm:
I am sadden to hear of the lost of a woman that I one day dreamed to be. My aspirations to work with DCFS continues to be put to the back of my dreams because of things like this. Social Workers are just as important as politicians, doctors, teachers and more. Why are we not protected, why did she not have a police personnel with her? Her family did not deserve this nor did they deserve her working long hours without the proper pay. Please do better as social workers are extremely important to the growth of our future and our communities. I hope the governor and state of Illinois learn from their mistakes and do more for us. We put our mental health and safety on the line daily. My prayers and thoughts are with family and DCFS.
- Spfld Westsider - Wednesday, Jan 5, 22 @ 3:18 pm:
Criminally broken system. DCFS is underfunded, and understaffed. The numerous leadership changes are incredibly unhelpful, too. They’re operating on consent decrees, and because they’re understaffed, that means they have to contract their work out to private SS agencies to help. Miscommunications and unclear/overlapping policies lead to kids falling through the cracks and bad press…AND ultimately situations like this. And for an agency that NEEDS ALL THE HELP THEY CAN GET, this obviously isn’t helping with recruitment or retention.
And every time a DCFS employee is killed or injured on the job, everyone screams “we need to find DCFS!” “why doesn’t the Governor do something?”… and then conveniently forget about all of that once they start talking about the inevitable and necessary tax increases to pay for such funding and improvement. And then it goes away until the next time a child or employee is failed by this broken model. Lather, rinse, and repeat ad nauseam. It’s so sad.
- Remote worler alert badges - Wednesday, Jan 5, 22 @ 4:40 pm:
They need the remote worker alert badges that can not only take video but also has an emergency button to request help.
- Oswego Willy - Wednesday, Jan 5, 22 @ 6:10 pm:
Devastating horrible news, my sincere condolences to the family and friends of Deidre Silas.
Heartbreaking.
- Arguenda - Thursday, Jan 6, 22 @ 9:41 am:
Candy Dogood, 100% agree.