DCFS Investigating Death Of 4-Month-Old Girl
Updated 04/22/12 - 4:23 p.m.
HOFFMAN ESTATES, Ill. (STMW) -- Hoffman Estates police are investigating the death of a 4-month-old Mount Prospect girl who officials say might have died from shaken baby syndrome Saturday afternoon.
The baby girl, Anna Belle Chung, of the 0-100 block of East Debbie Drive, suffered fatal injuries Wednesday at a day care center in Hoffman Estates, said the Cook County Medical Examiner's office.
Police were called to the day care center in the 4200 block of Crimson Drive in Hoffman estates at 10:19 a.m. for a report of a child unconscious and not breathing, police said Sunday.
She was taken to Saint Alexius Medical Center in Hoffman Estates before being transferred to Children's Memorial Hospital at 7:00 p.m., police said.
The baby was pronounced dead at Children's Memorial 11:44 a.m. Saturday. The medical examiner's office cited shaken baby syndrome as her preliminary cause of death.
The Illinois Department of Children and Family Services is investigating allegations of abuse in connection to Chung's death, according to Jimmie Whitelow, a spokesman for the agency.
Whitelow declined to say who might be the focus of the investigation -- but he did say the unidentified person was investigated by DCFS for unrelated allegations in May 2010 that were later determined to be unfounded. Whitelow also said Chung's mother is not being investigated.
The girl's father Ken Chung said his family is too distraught to talk.
"We're going through a rough time," Chung said. "It's not a good time to talk."
The day care location in Hoffman Estate is in a home in a residential neighborhood.
Public records list the day care center as Sunflower Christian Montessori and its principal/owner as Leigh Ann Choi. A message left on the Montessori school's answering machine was not immediately returned.
(Source: Sun-Times Media Wire © Chicago Sun-Times 2012. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
