Illinois state Sen. Darren Bailey recently reiterated his support for the Second Amendment, the right of the people to keep and bear arms. | Darren Bailey for Governor/Facebook
Illinois state Sen. Darren Bailey recently reiterated his support for the Second Amendment, the right of the people to keep and bear arms. | Darren Bailey for Governor/Facebook
Republican gubernatorial candidate Darren Bailey is devastated by I’Kera Hill's death. Bailey called the three-year-old's death from malnutrition and dehydration on June 22 unacceptable.
"I am deeply saddened by the death of I’Kera Hill," Bailey said. "Her story is heartbreaking. It is hard to believe that these things keep happening but once again we are seeing more evidence of the failings of the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services. There is something deeply wrong with DCFS. I have called for an investigation into the Department, and I have called for Marc Smith’s resignation. I am going to keep talking about the failures of DCFS to protect kids because we have to change the culture in this department. We have to protect our kids. We cannot accept these failures any longer."
The Illinois Department of Children and Family Services confirmed it had contact with three-year-old I’Kera Hill prior to her death at a Carbondale hospital. Hill’s death is under investigation by the Illinois State Police. Her parents Isaac Hill and Katrina Simelton Hill are facing child endangerment charges and are currently being imprisoned in Jackson County Jail on $250,000 bail. Hill is survived by 17 brothers and sisters. The Hill family has been on DCFS’s radar for the past decade. Isaac was first accused of abuse in 2012 for allegedly beating a child with an electric cord. The couple had another child die in their custody as well, Capitol News Illinois reported.
DCFS has been under scrutiny lately after several high-profile child deaths. Auditor General Frank Mautino's office noted in an audit that DCFS “was unable to provide 192 of the 195 (98%) required Home Safety Checklists.”
“Additionally, according to DCFS’ website, Home Safety Checklists had still not been updated with required new language as of March 16, 2022,” the audit reads.
Home safety checklists are conducted upon the return of a child to the setting from which they were removed.
The audit was conducted pursuant to a 2020 law called Ta'Naja's Law, which was put into effect. The law was named after two-year-old Ta’Naja Barnes, who was found dead by police over three years ago on Feb. 11, 2019. Barnes was under DCFS. Her death spawned a series of investigative reports leading to the passage of the law requiring regular audits of the department.
"We know that Ta'Naja was not the first one this had happened to, but it took too many children for this to happen to," Iisha Dean, who served as Barnes’s foster mother, said, according to Newschannel 20. "Change has come, and hopefully this is a start."
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