As critics raise concerns about a perceived delay by the Department of Children and Family Services to release additional information regarding the death of Markell Pierce, the department is facing a civil lawsuit stemming from an earlier Round Lake Beach child abuse killing.
Round Lake Beach 8-year-old Markell Pierce died Feb. 6 after allegedly being whipped with a belt and forced to stand in a cold shower. An autopsy by the Lake County coroner’s office showed the child was malnourished and had numerous bruises.
The child’s mother, Dominique Servant, 33, and her boyfriend, Joey Ruffin, 38, are being held in connection with his death.
Last week, Round Lake Beach community members gathered at the Cultural and Civic Center to hold a vigil for the young boy, which organizers framed as a way for the community to come to terms with the tragedy. Attendees, whom organizers requested not be interviewed by the media, included teachers who knew the boy and spoke about his positive energy and love of football to some attending family members.
“He was always smiling,” a teacher said. “He had the best hugs ever … He was so smart.”
Jayceon Wright
Markell’s death has similarities to a case from 2022, when Round Lake Beach 6-year-old Jayceon Wright was beaten to death by Tracy Thomas Jr., his mother’s boyfriend. Thomas was sentenced to 35 years in prison after pleading guilty.
But the guilty plea was not the end of the story. Joshua Wright, Jayceon’s biological father, is pursuing a civil case against several DCFS employees, as well as the department itself.
The suit alleges that DCFS investigators and supervisors were aware of reports of domestic violence in the home but failed to take the reports seriously and conducted an improper investigation.
According to the lawsuit, Jayceon’s grandparents called DCFS’ child abuse hotline on Sept. 3, 2021, alleging domestic violence had occurred in front of three children in the home. A second call made additional allegations of abuse against Thomas, as well as the possible use of drugs.
The suit claims DCFS assigned an allegation of “substantial risk of physical injury/environment injurious to health and welfare by neglect” to the children’s mother but not the boyfriend, who was the alleged perpetrator of the domestic violence, child abuse and substance abuse.
When a DCFS case worker went to the home to interview the children, “the abusers were nearby and watching carefully,” and the mother stopped the interview “quickly,” the suit alleges.
In November of that year, further interviews at the children’s school allegedly revealed additional signs of potential abuse, but an investigator “omitted information … inserted false information … and/or created an inaccurate report,” that did not indicate violent behavior, substance abuse and domestic violence in the children’s home.
The lawsuit alleges DCFS workers did not follow the department’s procedures, ultimately deeming the children safe despite numerous warning signs.
In December of 2021, while DCFS staff determined the allegation of domestic violence and abuse against the mother to be “indicated,” no further services were offered to the family and the investigation was closed that month, according to the suit. Wright was killed a few months later.
Beyond surface-level similarities between the killings of Jayceon and Markell — both were young Round Lake Beach children killed in the same month four years apart — Megan O’Connor, Joshua Wright’s attorney, warned of “similar patterns” between the cases.
For both, the child was living in a home with a “paramour,” the term used for a biological parent’s romantic partner who is not related to the child, O’Connor said.
The risks are well known by DCFS, she argued, pointing to a 2020 report by the DCFS inspector general. Non-biological caregivers carry higher risks of abuse than non-biological caregivers, O’Connor said.
“There’s a whole separate protocol for DCFS for paramours, where they need to be looking at these cases with more heightened scrutiny,” she said.
DCFS did not provide any additional comments after questions regarding the ongoing civil case, nor did it respond to requests for more information regarding a DCFS timeline related to the Jayceon Wright case.
In a previous statement, DCFS officials said Markell’s family “was not receiving services from DCFS” and that the department was working with Round Lake Beach law enforcement officials to investigate the circumstances surrounding his death.
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O’Connor was among those critical of DCFS’ statement, calling it “evasive.” A family receiving services from DCFS was “at the absolute back end of what they’re supposed to be doing,” she said. There could be phone calls, investigations, discussions about whether to refer cases to court and whether to remove children from a home.
Both O’Connor and Cook County Public Guardian Charles Golbert criticized DCFS statements following the news of Markell’s death and questioned why a timeline has yet to be released. Previously, Golbert has pointed to past prominent cases of child abuse deaths, when timelines were released within a week or even days. This Friday will mark three weeks since the child’s death.
In previous statements, DCFS and the Lake County state’s attorney’s office have cited an ongoing investigation for the delay, as they gather facts about the timeline around Markell’s death. Authorities pointed back to these statements this week following requests for additional information or comment.
Lake County State’s Attorney Eric Rinehart has said additional public releases could affect ongoing interviews.
“The public is right to expect an effective investigation into Markell’s death and government transparency about the past. We can and must have both,” he said.
DCFS has said it was working with the office and will provide a detailed case timeline “as soon as we are able,” but it has to be released in a “way that does not interfere with the criminal investigation.”
“DCFS’s priority is to support law enforcement as they pursue justice for this tragedy,” the statement said.
DCFS did not respond to requests for clarification about whether procedures surrounding timeline releases have changed in recent years, since previous timelines were released sometimes only days after a DCFS-involved child was discovered to have died.
Golbert, speaking last week, continued to criticize the delay, expressing his personal suspicions over a “lack of transparency.”
“It does not strike me as just taking a while, or there’s some delay. It strikes me that there’s something to hide,” Golbert said.
At least one report of potential child abuse was allegedly made to DCFS before Markell’s death. The director of a day care that he and his 10-year-old sister attended confirmed that the day care had reported signs of potential abuse to DCFS sometime around last spring, after which the two children were soon pulled out of day care and school by Servant.
DCFS bills
Two bills, House Bill 4569 and HB 4570, that Golbert warned would make it more difficult for the public to get information when a DCFS-involved child is killed or seriously injured, and handicap the department’s internal investigation and review processes, are being put on hold, according to state Rep. Suzanne Ness, D-Carpentersville, who filed them.
“As the Chair of the Adoption and Child Welfare Committee, my commitment is to ensure the safety of Illinois’s most vulnerable children,” Ness said in a statement. “I will only support the final passage of legislation that enhances protections for these children. After speaking with concerned stakeholders, I’ve decided to hold this bill back for now.”
Dominique Servant
Markell’s mother has been confirmed to have been a paraprofessional at the Special Education District of Lake County Fairhaven School.
According to a SEDOL release, Servant has worked at the school since October 2023, and had passed a criminal background check when hired and had performed her assigned duties, “without any reported concerns.”
The release did not indicate whether Servant’s employment had been terminated, but said it would “act in accordance with all legal obligations.”