Prairie State Wire

Illinois Criminal Justice Information Authority, Missing and Murdered Chicago Women Task Force met Dec. 19.

Here is the agenda 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: 

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

Sarah Conlon, Interim CEO, ICADV

Sara Block, Ascend Justice

Greg Gugger, Sergeant, Chicago Police Department

Kevin Bruno, Deputy Chief, Chicago Police Department

ICJIA Staff Present: 

Delrice Adams, Director

Dawn English, Associate General Counsel

Andrea Wilson, Domestic Violence Fatality Review Initiative

Amanda Vasquez, Research Manager

Erinne Smith, Research Scientist

Vincent Sarna, Task Force Coordinator and Report Writer

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 12:35 P.M. 

II. ROLL CALL 

• Dawn English, ICJIA’s Associate General Counsel, took roll and announced quorum was reached.

III. OLD BUSINESS 

• Approval of the Minutes from October 22, 2024 

• Senator Hunter requested a motion to approve the minutes.

• Motion: Made by Carrie Ward to approve the minutes.

• Motion Second: Rebeca Perrone

• Vote: The motion passed. 

No Nays. No Abstentions.

IV.NEW BUSINESS 

• Presentation: Andrea Wilson, Project Director, and Sara Block, Co-Chair, Domestic Violence Fatality Review Initiative

o Senator Hunter introduced the speakers. Ms. Wilson and Ms. Block provided an overview of the work of the Domestic Violence Fatality Review Initiative (DVFR). (Please see attached slides for additional presentation content.)

o Member Adebola Hassan suggested that the DVFR connect with the Maternal Mortality Review Committee, as there are overlaps between the issues.

• Task Force Report Discussion: During the report discussion, Member Thomas Lemmer requested additional clarification in how the views of presenters/content of the presentations vs. the views and findings of the task force were presented within the report. It was noted that the report focused on key learnings from presentations made to the task force, rather than specific research conducted by or on behalf of the task force. The group discussed edits to the report language, as well as the inclusion of a disclaimer noting that the views of the presenters are not necessarily the views of the Task Force. Additionally, edits were made to ensure the inclusion of domestic violence, sexual assault, and human trafficking with requests for increased funding for gender-based violence initiatives. Chairperson Senator Maddie Hunter suggested that a committee be formed to help draft future task force reports.

• Report Vote: 

o Senator Hunter requested a motion to approve the report as amended and form a report writing subcommittee.

o Motion: Made by Carrie Ward.

o Motion Second: Diane Walsh

o The motion passed. No Nays. 1 Present vote by Thomas Lemmer.

• Next Meeting: Senator Hunter reminded members that the next meeting will be held on Monday, January 13, 2025, 12:00 – 1:30 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: Made by Carrie Ward.

Seconded By: Cristina Villareal

Vote: The motion passed. 

No Nays. No abstentions.

 https://agency.icjia-api.cloud/uploads/Missing_and_Murdered_Task_Force_Minutes_12_19_24_Approved_9dacd5da16.pdf