Death of infant near Des Plaines being investigated

Cook County Sheriff's detectives are investigating the death of a 3-month-old infant in an unincorporated area near Des Plaines.

On Thursday at around 1:55 p.m., Glenview police and North Maine firefighters responded to the 10100 block of Holly Lane after receiving a report that the child was not breathing.

Cook County sheriff's officials were notified after it was determined that the death occurred in unincorporated Des Plaines.

North Maine fire personnel took the boy to Advocate Lutheran General Hospital in Park Ridge, where he was pronounced dead.

Liane Jackson, spokeswoman for the Cook County Sheriff's Department, said the victim's father found the infant unresponsive on a mattress placed on the floor, after he put the child down approximately 15 minutes earlier for a nap on his back.

Officers interviewed the mother, who was at work at the time, and the father.

A neighbor in a nearby building in the condominium complex, Darnia Coleman, said the parents told her the baby died of natural causes.

They are young themselves, said Coleman, and have another child about a year old.

“They are very good people,” she said. “It's sad that that happened, especially this time of year.”

Another neighbor, Rhodrey Catalan, said he has not lived in the complex long but thought the parents seemed very responsible. He had recently talked to the father, who was happy about getting a tax return, he said.

There was no obvious sign of trauma, Jackson said, but she added the matter is currently being classed as a suspicious death.

North Maine District Chief Mike Fox said firefighter/paramedics performed appropriate advanced life support care, both on the scene and en route to the hospital

He said the child arrived at the hospital at 2:05 p.m.

The Cook County Medical Examiner's office said the matter was “pending further studies.”

• Daily Herald staff writer Deborah Donovan contributed to this report.