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CHICAGO (CBS) — Police are conducting a death investigation after an 8-year-old girl was found dead inside a home in the Uptown neighborhood. Sources said the girl was asphyxiated, and her mother was hospitalized after a suicide attempt.
Police said the girl was found unresponsive inside a home in the 4600 block of North Winthrop Avenue around 11 a.m. Wednesday.
She was pronounced dead at the scene, and has been identified as Amaria Osby, according to the Cook County Medical Examiner’s office.
An autopsy is scheduled for Thursday. Police sources told CBS 2’s Brad Edwards the girl was asphyxiated.
Police said a 38-year-old woman in the home was taken to Weiss Memorial Hospital in good condition.
Sources with knowledge of the investigation told CBS 2’s Suzanne Le Mignot that woman is Amaria’s mother, who was hospitalized after trying to kill herself.
Area 3 detectives are investigating.
The Illinois Department of Children and Family Services confirmed they have had previous contact with the family, including a visit the day before Amaria was found dead,
“No signs of abuse, neglect or danger were noted by our investigator,” DCFS spokesman Bill McCaffrey said in an email. “This family previously participated in intact family services from a substance abuse related incident in 2017. The recent visit was the result of an allegation of domestic violence and was the first contact with the family since closing the prior case in 2018.”
The domestic violence allegation DCFS investigated in 2018 involved abuse by one parent against the other, not against Amaria. There have not been any previous allegations of abuse or neglect of Amaria.