CHICAGO () — The mother of a 3-year-old boy who was fatally beaten more than a year ago has been arrested.
Leland Chipoco’s death last summer drew little public attention, despite being classified as both child abuse and a homicide.
For more than a year, however, no one faced charges in connection with the toddler’s death.
Leland’s relatives said they repeatedly pushed for answers, believing the justice system had overlooked the case and failed the little boy.
“I want answers. You know, it’s not fair,” Leland’s father, Mark Chipoco, told the ABC7 Chicago I-Team. “My son was smiling, healthy, jolly.”
Leland was pronounced dead at Lurie Children’s Hospital in June 2025.
Although Mark Chipoco no longer lived with Leland’s mother, he said he remained devoted to his son and continued to support him.
Family members warned him about the severity of the boy’s condition as he rushed to the hospital.
“It looks like your son got hit, like he got hit by a bat in the back of his head,” Chipoco recalled.
The I-Team reviewed records from the Cook County medical examiner and Lurie Children’s Hospital.
According to the medical examiner’s summary, Leland’s mother, Felicia Hirn, told doctors after bringing him to the hospital that he had “fell off a slide and hit his head.”
But detailed medical records, photographs and physician notes reviewed by the I-Team described multiple serious injuries, including bruising, retinal and subdural hemorrhages, and damage to the spine.
The injuries raised concerns about possible child abuse, prompting doctors to notify authorities.
“It’s frustrating. It’s eating me up inside each day since my son passed away. They just ignored me like this,” Chipoco said. “I keep calling the detective each week, each day with no answer.”
Keshia Washington, the grandmother of Leland’s half-siblings, said she considered the child her grandson.
“I just want this for Leland so he can rest, and I can breathe again. Every day is heavy,” Washington told the I-Team.
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Washington and Chipoco contacted the I-Team, angered by what they described as the apparent disappearance of Leland’s case.
Washington said the loss was especially painful because she had reported suspected abuse to Leland’s school, police and the Department of Children and Family Services 10 months before his death.
“I begged and I pleaded, you know, someone please do something before something bad happens to one of those children, and everyone just really shrugged me off,” Washington said.
In a statement to the I-Team, DCFS said it had worked with law enforcement and completed its investigation, which identified the mother in allegations connected to Leland’s death as well as other abuse allegations.
“I feel guilty, but I know I shouldn’t. But the guilt lays on everybody else who didn’t listen to me,” Washington said.
After the I-Team listened and asked authorities repeatedly what was happening with the case — 15 months after the 3-year-old’s death — a Cook County warrant was issued and 32-year-old Felicia Hirn was just arrested in Maryland.
According to the arrest warrant, Hirn faces a first-degree murder charge in Cook County for the death of her son.
A complaint said she: “Choked Leland Chipoco with her hands around the neck and forcibly shook Leland thereby causing the death.”
But, the medical examiner concluded Leland died of blunt force head trauma.
ABC police affairs consultant Bill Kushner questioned those discrepancies and said he was stunned the case was left to languish.
“So why do we have a year delay to obtain a murder warrant for an individual who, and I’m going to say allegedly at this point, beat their child to death?” Kushner told the I-Team. “It’s not that complex a case. Who dropped the child off at the hospital? That’s the first person you want to go talk to.”
He added, “that is just sloppy police work; justice delayed is justice denied.”
Chipoco is still questioning why his son’s case was unchanged for so long.
“I called the state attorney, nothing. What is that? No sympathy for a person who lost someone? Nothing,” he said.
Both the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office and the Chicago Police Department told the I-Team they declined to comment, citing the ongoing investigation surrounding the case.
Hirn waived extradition but is still sitting in a Maryland county jail. The I-Team tried to contact her. She currently has no defense council.
