* Capitol News Illinois…
A circuit court judge in Sangamon County threatened Tuesday to begin assessing daily fines against the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services for its repeated failure to appear in court or comply with orders to hand over documents related to the death of a teenager who was in the agency’s care.
Judge Jack Davis II issued an order Tuesday for DCFS Director Heidi Mueller to appear personally at a Sept. 9 hearing to show cause why she and the agency should not continue to be held in contempt over repeated refusals to appear in court or comply with orders to produce records related to an 18-year-old girl who died while in foster care in 2024.
Capitol News Illinois sued for access to the personnel records of two caseworkers and one supervisor who were responsible for monitoring Mackenzi Felmlee, the girl who died.
According to doctors, Mackenzi died May 11, 2024, from a blood clot that hit her lungs. She was found struggling to breathe at the bottom of the basement stairs in a Fairview Heights foster home. Doctors reported she died of a blood clot that hit her lungs. Her neck, shoulders, legs and face were bruised, and her dehydrated body weighed just 90 pounds.
Her foster mother, Shemeka Williams, and foster grandmother, Cornelia Reid, are charged with murder in connection with Mackenzi’s death. Both are currently being held in the St. Clair County Jail.
* Gov. Pritzker was asked at an unrelated news conference yesterday why DCFS failed to appear…
Pritzker: I checked in, and they want to comply. They want to comply. And, indeed, I checked in, and honestly, either through the notification process or some mix-up, they did not know about the court date. And so they absolutely want to show up. It’s not like they’re avoiding it.
We’ve got a great director there who is trying to go the right things. And so I’m certain that, if the communication process is improved, and that’s what we’re looking to do, to make sure they know when the court hearing is. They will show up.
- Candy Dogood - Thursday, Aug 13, 26 @ 10:17 am:
===They want to comply. And, indeed, I checked in, and honestly, either through the notification process or some mix-up, they did not know about the court date.===
I suppose we can wait to hear the version of events that the agency provides to the judge under the penalty of perjury because the explanation they’ve provided to the Governor really seems a like it isn’t very good explanation.
===to make sure they know when the court hearing is. They will show up.===
This is a very concerning response. They didn’t know when the court hearing was?
Can’t wait for the Directors explanation of how their agency is too incompetent to keep tabs of when they’re ordered to appear in court.