An eight-month-old girl was found unresponsive inside a residence on S. Artesian Avenue on Chicago's Southwest Side around 1:46 p.m. Saturday, and police pronounced her dead at the scene. The cause of her death remains unknown as detectives continue their investigation.
Chicago police reported the discovery on the Southwest Side, according to FOX 32 Chicago, which cited information shared by the Chicago Police Department. Officers were called to the home on S. Artesian Avenue, where the infant was already unresponsive, and she was pronounced dead by police at the scene.
Chicago detectives are currently conducting a death investigation, with autopsy results still pending, per the same police account relayed to the station. As of the station's report, the cause of the girl's death had not been determined.
No Cause of Death Established Yet
Authorities have not released additional details about what led to the infant's death, and the station's report did not include further information on the circumstances inside the home. The investigation remains open while the medical examiner's findings are awaited.
Illinois law generally requires that when an infant under two dies suddenly and unexpectedly under unexplained circumstances, an autopsy be performed by a physician trained in pathology, according to a summary maintained by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. That standard reflects why autopsy results are considered a key step before investigators can determine how the Southwest Side infant died.
Part of a String of Recent Infant Deaths in Chicago
The Southwest Side case follows a series of unrelated infant deaths reported across Chicago in recent months, though no evidence connects any of them to one another or to Saturday's incident. A 1-year-old girl, Za'niya Evans, was found unresponsive at a home in the 8500 block of South Muskegon Avenue in the South Chicago neighborhood around 6:50 a.m. on Oct. 9, according to the Chicago Sun-Times. She was taken to Comer Children's Hospital, where she was pronounced dead, and a death investigation was underway with autopsy results pending.
In a separate case, a 13-day-old boy was found unresponsive inside a home in the Bowmanville neighborhood's 2100 block of West Foster Avenue and later pronounced dead at Swedish Hospital, ABC7 Chicago reported. The medical examiner later identified him as Jayden Sanchez. ABC7 also reported that a 1-year-old boy was found unresponsive with bruises on his face in a home in the 7400 block of South Eberhart Avenue on the South Side and later died at a hospital, a case tied to a child-abuse investigation.
Earlier Near West Side Case Still Fresh
Hoodline previously reported on a Near West Side infant death in which Chicago police said a 3-month-old girl was found unresponsive inside a home and later pronounced dead. The Cook County Medical Examiner's Office later identified her as Mynna Anderson. That earlier coverage also noted that the Illinois Department of Public Health reported a sudden unexpected infant death rate of about 0.8 per 1,000 live births in 2022, and that the Cook County Medical Examiner's Office certified 75 infant deaths and performed 69 infant autopsies in 2023, according to its annual report.
No details have been released connecting Saturday's death on S. Artesian Avenue to any of these earlier cases, and investigators have not indicated whether foul play is suspected. Chicago police have not identified the infant publicly, and the investigation remains active while the medical examiner's office completes its work.
