A Chicago mother is facing a first-degree murder charge more than a year after her 3-year-old son died from blunt force head trauma, with Cook County authorities only issuing an arrest warrant 15 months after the boy's death. Felicia Hirn, 32, was arrested this week in Maryland and has since waived extradition back to Illinois.
Hirn's son, Leland Chipoco, died at Lurie Children's Hospital in June 2025, and the medical examiner ruled his death a homicide tied to child abuse, according to ABC7 Chicago. Medical documents described bruises, retinal hemorrhages, subdural hemorrhages and spinal injuries — a far cry from the explanation Hirn initially gave doctors, that the toddler had fallen off a slide and hit his head.
Doctors at the hospital flagged potential child abuse and alerted authorities, the station's report states. An arrest complaint later alleged that Hirn choked Leland and forcibly shook him, causing his death. She is currently being held in a Maryland county jail and has no defense counsel listed in the case.
A Grandmother's Warnings, Ignored for Months
Keshia Washington, grandmother of Leland's half-siblings, said she reported signs of abuse to the boy's school, police, and the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services ten months before his death. She told the outlet she wants justice for Leland. DCFS worked with law enforcement and completed an investigation that indicated the mother was involved in allegations tied to both the child's death and other abuse claims, per the same account.
Leland's father, Mark Chipoco, said he wants answers about what happened to his son, adding that he loved and supported him. The Cook County State's Attorney's Office and the Chicago Police Department both declined to comment on the ongoing investigation when asked repeatedly by the outlet's I-Team.
Bill Kushner, an ABC police affairs consultant, said the case was simply left to languish for 15 months before a warrant was finally issued. That gap sits inside a pattern state auditors have already documented: a September 2026 audit from the Illinois Auditor General found DCFS failed to produce 82% of required home safety checklists in a sampled review of reunified families from 2023 and 2024, a compliance failure Hoodline previously reported.
Statewide Patterns in Fatal Child Abuse Cases
An earlier report from the Illinois DCFS Office of Inspector General, cited by NPR Illinois, found that child deaths among families with prior agency contact reached 171 in fiscal year 2022, a 20-year high.
Medical professionals at pediatric trauma centers like Lurie Children's are legally mandated reporters under the Illinois Abused and Neglected Child Reporting Act, required to notify the state hotline immediately upon suspecting non-accidental injury and file written reports within 48 hours, according to Briskman Briskman & Greenberg.
Maryland Custody Dispute Surfaced Before Arrest
Court records show that weeks before her arrest, Hirn was already entangled in family court. On September 23, 2026, her mother, Lisa Stovall, filed a civil child custody petition against her in the Circuit Court for Frederick County, Maryland, with both women listed at a residence in Frederick, according to Maryland Courts records. The filing shows that family legal disputes were active in Maryland in the weeks just before Cook County's warrant led to Hirn's arrest.
Hirn was taken into custody in Maryland on the Illinois warrant.
What Hirn Could Face in Court
Under Illinois statutory law, 720 ILCS 5/9-1, first-degree murder is a non-probationable felony carrying 20 to 60 years in prison without good-conduct sentence reductions, with enhanced penalties up to natural life imprisonment when the victim is under 12 years old, according to the Illinois Courts statute. The charge mirrors a similar Cook County prosecution from February 2025, when 20-year-old Tamyra Anderson was charged with first-degree murder after the medical examiner ruled her 5-month-old son's fatal head trauma a homicide in North Lawndale, a case Hoodline covered at the time.
For now, Hirn remains jailed in Maryland without listed defense counsel as the extradition process moves forward. Leland's family continues to wait for the case to reach a Cook County courtroom, 15 months after the warrant for his mother's arrest was first issued.
