Eleven young people were killed while in the Department of Children and Family Services’ protection over a two-year period through June 30, 2015. Those deaths were investigated by the DCFS Office of Inspector General, which released the results in a 119-page report offering reccommendations on what more could have been done to save them.
The report does not identify the teens, but a Tribune review of public records and interviews revealed the individuals. Included was 17-year-old Laquan McDonald, whose violent death in 2014 after a confrontation with Chicago police incited outrage and calls for police reform.
Douglas
Johnson
Age: 18
Date of death: April 21, 2014
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Fatally shot in Rockford
“Don’t let me die.” — Johnson
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Robert
Waldon
Age: 18
Date of death: May 22, 2014
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Fatally shot outside a DCFS-funded facility in Humboldt Park.
“I can walk down the street and I get the respect I desire.” — Waldon on gangs, guns
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Michael
Patton
Age: 17
Date of death: June 30, 2014
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Killed near his foster parent’s home in Bronzeville.
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Jeremiah
Shaw
Age: 18
Date of death: Aug. 6, 2014
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Fatally shot in the Back of the Yards neighborhood
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Laquan
McDonald
Age: 17
Date of death: Oct. 20, 2014
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Fatally shot by Chicago police Officer Jason Van Dyke in Archer Heights.
“The world is ‘bad’.” “Every child gets ‘punched.'” — McDonald’s answers on a sentence completion test
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Dai’Jonn
Danzy
Age: 19
Date of death: Nov. 21, 2014
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Fatally shot in Maywood.
“This is my last shot.” — Danzy, in reference to a new program he was about to start before his death
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Danial
Zaffar
Age: 18
Date of death: Dec. 27, 2014
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Fatally shot in West Ridge.
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Rashad
Oliver
Age: 14
Date of death: Jan. 25, 2015
Fatally shot in Riverdale.
“Dreams die young. So live with it. I did.” — Oliver
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Azun
Buckner
Age: 18
Date of death: April 3, 2015
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Fatally shot in Englewood.
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Kenneth
Bester
Age: 20
Date of death: June 21, 2015
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Body found in Calumet Park in a trash bin. The body had been lit on fire.
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Angelica
Escamilla
Age: 20
Date of death: June 29, 2015
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Fatally stabbed in Ravenswood.
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Locations of deaths
Source: DCFS Office of Inspector General special report
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