Found Deceased IL - Semaj Crosby, 16 mos, Joliet Township, 25 April 2017

[MSCJgrad]

One word. It starts with 'D' and ends with 'rugs'.

5 to 15 people lived in that home at any given time!!!! So wait, WHY couldn't the adults clean it up? I get mental illness. I get hoarding and it being a deep seated mental illness. BUT EVERY adult in that home being mental ill? Not believing! How much drug use was going on? How did NO ONE even attempt to clean or at least take out the trash?

 

[deedee21]

The mothers cousin had to be removed by cops when the mother was being questioned. She was banging on the door screaming "dont answer any questions". The baby was still missing at this point. WHY? That same cousin told her to" look concerned" when a woman with a enternet based show interviewed her. Something is ROTTEN.

 

[sorrell skye]

This precious baby deserved a safe place to call home, a safe place to play, to explore, to grow.

A safe place to rise up and to say to the world: Here I am! Here I come! Hear me roar!

A beautiful light has been snuffed out.

Does her life matter?

I think it does!

 

[deedee21]

Whoa! I just watched the news clip.

I am going with that assumption that the Easter visit was another house, then Sheri and the kids stayed with godmother for a bit, then got this house.

Clearly it was not in livable condition when she moved in, and I'm guessing she got the house because the owner was glad for someone to take it.

But how on Earth does the house look like that in a week? Did they literally just dump all their crap into any given room and just go from there?

I am stunned.
Even if they were there for years, that's shocking, but given the timeframe..... What the heck. Stunned.

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A week? How did she find so many squatters in such a short time?

 

[sorrell skye]

A week? How did she find so many squatters in such a short time?

Or: how did so many squatters/druggies find her in such a short time?

Druggies are experts at finding people to manipulate/use.

 

[LaborDayRN]

The mothers cousin had to be removed by cops when the mother was being questioned. She was banging on the door screaming "dont answer any questions". The baby was still missing at this point. WHY? That same cousin told her to" look concerned" when a woman with a enternet based show interviewed her. Something is ROTTEN.

I believe it was due to the fact that a group of people are covering something up. IMO that many people can not live in a small space without knowing each others business. I believe that's also why a lawyer was hired so quickly. MOO

 

[sorrell skye]

Conversely: it's not uncommon for druggies to allow other druggies to live with them, rent-free in exchange for drugs.

10 - 15 "squatters".

 

[LaborDayRN]

This precious baby deserved a safe place to call home, a safe place to play, to explore, to grow.

A safe place to rise up and to say to the world: Here I am! Here I come! Hear me roar!

A beautiful light has been snuffed out.

Does her life matter?

I think it does!

:heartbeat::tears:

 

[sorrell skye]

:heartbeat::tears:

I've been crying all evening, wishing someone could have rescued baby Semaj. She was so beautiful.

 

[Queena]

they weren't given anything for easter

Neither was my baby. Not everyone believes in Easter. There are no bunnies in the Bible. I digress. I too have several friends in common with this family and have heard that it was the paternal grandma and aunt.

 

[DatelineFan]

Apparently I am just asking to be angry tonight. I've just seen the screen shots of the "home" Samaj suffered in (thanks for those, btw).

And now I'm watching the Casey Anthony special. Ugh.

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[betterbe]

Not sure if this has been discussed, But had Semaj been seen by someone outside of the family or the Dcps worker since the police interaction on Easter? When was the last time she was actually seen alive?

 

[sorrell skye]

The deputies noticed the children didn’t have any Easter gifts, the Facebook post dated April 18 said, so they went shopping and returned with candy, toys and Easter baskets. “The deputies DID make memories that day … not with their own kids … but with five very egg-cited kids!”

A picture posted on the social media page shows three sheriff’s officers beaming with five children. The littlest child, a girl with braids and barrettes and a pacifier in her mouth, is Semaj, family members confirm to CBS 2.


:tears:

I don't personally observe Easter, but I'm fully aware that most of the U.S. does.

The above post brought me to tears. God Bless those LE officers for their lovingkindness!!!

Every child deserves to feel loved and to experience happiness.

 

[Queena]

Thanks so much for this link. So many questions!! If what has been said is true regarding the mother's mental capacity/disabilities... so many questions. Given her disabilities, how did she know to immediately lawyer up? Also, to what extent is this disability going to prevent her from reporting the death of her daughter, if she knew? It has been said that while at a neighbors house the day of the searches, prior to the baby being found deceased, she kept saying that she did not want to go back to the house. Why, if not because her daughter was in there deceased? I'm not casting any blame on the mother, it just rubs me the wrong way when lawyers immediately issue statements that deflect any/all responsibility while expressing their desire to move forward. My heart breaks for her, it really does, but I am not ready to remove any responsibility from anybody who was in that house that day-all 10-15 of them. I am in no way indicating that the mother was involved in the baby's death, as what we know so far indicates that she did not have anything to do with it. What I am wondering is if she was aware that the child was deceased as police and search parties were looking for her. If her mental capacity is so diminished, how is she able to care for 3 kids? I am of perfectly sound mind and body, as is my husband, and we often struggle with our 3 kids. One spits up all over me, the other needs his bottom wiped (or tries to do it himself, grossly unsuccessfully), while the other needs help with his homework, usually while dinner is boiling over on the stove, the laundry needs put in the dryer, and somebody knocks over my coffee (typically me). Parenting is difficult, even in good circumstances, so I guess I am curious as to her diagnosis as it pertains to her mental capacity.

I know blind people that parent effectively. Mentally challenged people successfully raise kids all of the time. Just because you can barely manage...

Seriously, this mindset is what lead to the mentally challenged being sterilized in certain parts of this country.

 

[kaen]

Good info here. Having worked with children and adults with disabilities as well, I concur with everything that you have said. I am extremely curious as to her disability and how it allowed her to care for her children, both literally and legally. Further, how could a disability that deems a person 'slow' allow for that person, at the same time, to be insightful enough to immediately obtain a lawyer in a situation such as this? I'm not psychic and I am not privy to any inside information pertaining to this case, so I can't speak on whether or not I think that the mother or anybody else was directly responsible for the death of this baby, I have been around the block enough times to say with confidence that something ain't right. If I take into consideration the alleged comments made to the neighbor during the search, regarding the mother saying that she didn't want to go back inside of the house, while also examining the little bits of video that we have of the mother... I have inclinations, and I have questions. Perhaps she was fearful of others. Perhaps she really did have no idea what was going on, what had happened to her daughter, etc. Only time will tell. The only thing that I am certain of is that in a house of that condition, if an adult caretaker of children is not mentally well enough to make the judgement call that this is not suitable for their children, then that person does not need to be in the direct care and control of children. I sympathize immensely for those suffering from mental illness, and myriad people dropped the ball here, and the domino effect resulted in the death of an innocent 16 month old baby. R.I.P. sweet baby Samaj. I'm so sorry for your life and your death. You deserved so much better.

I think the lawyer (and we thought originally it was the paternal aunt but now know it was her sister) showing up at the mobile unit was probably contacted by the family. Her family knows she is disabled and has probably dealt with concern about the paternal side for awhile.

I agree I don't think she can parent without a support system that lives in very close proximity or in the same home.

 

[kaen]

I know blind people that parent effectively. Mentally challenged people successfully raise kids all of the time. Just because you can barely manage...

Seriously, this mindset is what lead to the mentally challenged being sterilized in certain parts of this country.

I would argue that she needs support. I don't believe the intent of the comments were harkening back to that awful mindset. Rather, it is important to make sure that this woman and her children have a system that can help to keep them stable.

 

[Eloise]

I just want to chime in and offer a viewpoint on the responsibilities of the case workers who visit homes in these cases. Not necessarily in reference to this case, but all similar cases.

It is certainly possible that some caseworkers are bad at their job and negligent themselves. However, I do not believe they are the majority. I think most caseworkers do what they can with the limited time and budgets they have to do their job. they do a very difficult job for not that great a salary, a job many of us could never do.

To some degree they have to be very pragmatic and they see all manner of living situations that most of us could never even imagine. On top of that they have to work within rules and guidelines set for them by the department they work for and while they are generally able to use professional judgment and discretion they can't just take every child they see. They can only take as many children as there are foster homes/emergency placements. I always see tons of people saying "I would have taken that baby and looked after it" - really? This isn't aimed at anyone in particular, but if you say that - have you registered as a foster carer? There aren't endless supplies of foster carers or residential facilities! Outcomes for kids placed in foster care are actually pretty bad. It's an option avoided as much as possible for that reason.

And while its true social workers sometimes will go as far as to looking after kids removed in emergency situations back in the office overnight (I have a social worker friend who has done just that) such a case would not be routine. A house being filthy would not in and of itself mean children should be removed from the family - the family as a whole probably should be though! [Not to mention, landlords and property managers doing their jobs properly would never let a house get to this state] And apparently once kids are removed, the process to get them back is pretty longwinded and significant. It's considered much better if you can work WITH the family to improve the situation rather than making the very significant decision to take kids away. And it's easy to see with hindsight that this would be the result, but on the job you can only work with what you see and what people are telling you.

And then there is the fact that most social work research and literature - academic work upon which policies are based - comes from the viewpoint that children are best with family - not always necessarily parents, but family. This is the result of past policies and practices that saw many children removed when they shouldn't have been and for reasons now seen as invalid (such as removing children from unwed mothers, even if they were capable of caring for them and wanted the child, or removing children of colour and placing them with white families). This has, probably in all honestly, made most social services departments a bit gun-shy when it comes to taking kids away.

Now, in this specific case, maybe the caseworkers were negligent. Their work practices will probably be investigated, and they should be. A true professional would indeed be happy to have their work reviewed. Maybe the department was operating under flawed policies. Hopefully everything that contributed will be investigated. but it's a complex issue, far far far more complex than 'they should have taken the kids'. It just doesn't work that way in reality and until social services departments (not only in the US but everywhere really) are given more generous and realistic budgets, there are probably always going to be kids that "should" have been removed but weren't. Even parents who seem to have it all together and never have contact with child services sometimes harm their children. Caseworkers are only human and they can't see the future or tell who is going to kill their kid.

 

[Ontario Mom]

I have followed so many of these kinds of cases over the years but for some reason I cannot explain or even understand myself this sweet, beautiful baby Semaj just reached out and grabbed onto my heart from day one.

She deserves justice (the that put her in the couch, you vile piece of garbage),
accountability, (the lying social worker that reported she was inside the home and there were no safety or hazard issues..... you're a flat out fraud - we've all seen the inside of this house. It was junkie-freakin' central.
It was the city flippin' dump. How DARE you file the report you filed?

I'm sorry if I sound all messed up. I AM all messed up.

 

[Tssiemer]

I heard some social worker hating over here. Someone give me cliff notes.


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[perfectingpink]

Not sure if this has been discussed, But had Semaj been seen by someone outside of the family or the Dcps worker since the police interaction on Easter? When was the last time she was actually seen alive?

This is a good question!