Prairie State Wire

Illinois Criminal Justice Information Authority, Missing and Murdered Chicago Women Task Force met Oct. 22.

Here are the minutes provided by the task force:

Task Force Member Attendance	WebEx	Absent
Verda Bhatti, Between Friends		x
State Representative Kambium Buckner	x
Margaret Duval, Ascend Justice	x
Jennifer Greene, Life Span	x
Representative Jackie Haas		x
Adebola Hassan, MCH Division Chief		x
Senator Mattie Hunter	x
Major Abigail Keller, Illinois State Police	x
Thomas Lemmer, Illinois Association of Chiefs of Police		x
Senator Seth Lewis		x
Rebeca Perrone, Cook County Medical Examiner	x
Amanda Pyron, The Network Advocating Against Domestic Violence	x
Mandy Sark, Chicago Missing Person’s Guild	x
Teresa Smith		x
Scheherazade Tillet, A Long Walk Home	x
Cristina Villarreal, Planned Parenthood of Illinois	x
Diane Walsh, Office of the Chief Judge, Circuit Court of Cook County	x
Carrie Ward, Illinois Coalition Against Sexual Assault	x

Also present were: 

Angela McLemore, Executive Assistant, Senator Hunter’s Office

Dulana Reese, Chief of Staff, Representative Kam Buckner’s Office

Eva Shonuga, Staff Attorney, Office of Lt. Governor Juliana Stratton

Dr. Ponni Arunkumar, Cook County Chief Medical Examiner

Sarah Conlon, Interim CEO, ICADV

Antoinette Ursitti, Chief, Bureau of Detectives, Chicago Police Department

Cris Hughes, Associate Clinical Professor, Dept. of Anthropology, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign

ICJIA Staff Present:

Delrice Adams, Executive Director

Kimberly Atkins, Strategic Projects Administrator

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Amanda Vasquez, Research Manager

Erinne Smith, Research Scientist

Karen Galbraith, Project Coordinator

Minutes by: Karen Galbraith, ICJIA Project Coordinator

I. CALL TO ORDER/ OPENING REMARKS 

• Chairperson/ Senator Mattie Hunter called the meeting to order at 12:34 P.M. 

II. ROLL CALL 

• Kimberly Atkins, ICJIA Strategic Projects Administrator, took roll and announced quorum was reached.

III. OLD BUSINESS 

• Approval of the Minutes from July 22, 2024 and September 23, 2024 • Kimberly Atkins requested a motion to approve the minutes.

• Motion: Made by Senator Mattie Hunter to approve the minutes.

• Motion Second: Jennifer Greene

• Vote taken by Kimberly Atkins: All Ayes. No Nays. No Abstentions.

IV.NEW BUSINESS 

• Presentation: Female Homicide Victims in Cook County, Illinois: A Retrospective Review by Dr. Ponni Arunkumar, Chief Medical Examiner, and Rebeca Perrone, Indigent and Family Services Manager, Cook County Medical Examiner’s Office

• Senator Mattie Hunter introduced the speakers. Dr. Arunkumar and Ms. Perrone provided an overview of female homicides in Cook County, including an overview of the topic; research methods; victim statistics, including age, race, cause of death, relationship to offender, location, motive, and offender characteristics. Additionally, the presenters described the role of their office, services offered, as well as the collaborative strategies they use to identify unknown victims and missing persons. Please see attached slides.

• Member Discussion: Member Mandy Sark inquired if data related to pregnancy is tracked. Dr. Arunkumar confirmed that this information is included on the death certificate but was not specifically noted in the research study presented. Angela McLemore expressed surprise that many gunshot-related homicides were intrafamilial, noting the importance of prevention programming to raise awareness and reduce incidences. Senator Hunter and Cristina Villarreal inquired if there is information that the taskforce should be aware of to help support their work to identify and gather additional information about missing and murdered women and girls. Dr. Arunkumar and Ms. Perrone noted that additional funding would allow their office to provide more services, such as DNA testing and Forensic Genetic Genealogy, and support to families. In response to a question posed by

Mandy Sark, the presenters confirmed that DNA from unidentified individuals is saved to assist with post-burial identification.

• Research Report Update: Representative Kambium Buckner introduced Amanda Vasquez, Research Manager, ICJIA’s Center for Victim Studies, to provide an update on the task force report. Ms. Vasquez introduced the timeline for the report completion and approval process, noting that a draft of the report will be distributed to members for review prior to voting on it during the December 19th task force meeting.

• Next Meeting: Representative Buckner reminded members that the next meeting will be held on December 19th, 2024, 12:30 – 2:00 pm.

V. PUBLIC COMMENT 

• Senator Hunter opened the floor to members of the public. No public comment was offered.

VI. ADJOURNMENT 

• Senator Hunter requested a motion to adjourn.

Motion: To adjourn the meeting was made by Jennifer Greene. Seconded By: Diane Walsh

Vote Taken by Senator Hunter: All Ayes. No Nays. No abstentions.

https://agency.icjia-api.cloud/uploads/Missing_and_Murdered_Task_Force_Minutes_10_22_24_KG_KA_9b2f2b66b2.pdf