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Boy dies in fatal crash after mother's arrest

Police in Steger say a 5-year-old boy died when his mother's boyfriend crashed a car into a tree there only an hour after an officer in a neighboring southern Chicago suburb arrested the mother.

Police say Kathie LaFond was pulled over and arrested for driving on a suspended license early Monday morning in Chicago Heights after she attended a party with her boyfriend and the child. The officer handed the keys over to the boyfriend, 22-year-old Cecil Conner.

Conner hit the tree an hour later, killing 5-year-old Michael Langford Jr.

Conner was charged with felony DUI and reckless homicide. Steger Police Chief Richard Stultz says Conner had a blood alcohol count three times the legal limit, although the Chicago Heights officer said at the time of the traffic stop that Conner didn't appear impaired.

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