Chicago girl, 4, died of child abuse just days after being returned home

CHICAGO - A 4-year-old girl died from child abuse just two days after she was returned to her mother and the woman’s partner in their home in Chatham last month, the agency disclosed in a timeline released Friday.

The girl, Cashawnna Love, had been taken from the home two weeks earlier after she was brought to a hospital with burns on her feet, according to the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services.

The agency said it was told by police there was nothing "criminal in nature" about the injuries, but it still drew up a "safety plan" and placed the girl with a caretaker.

A DCFS investigator visited the girl at the caretaker’s home on June 17 and on June 22. "At both visits, there was no concerns for abuse or neglect," the agency said.

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An investigator also spoke with a doctor who treated the girl for burns and was told they "were not identified as abuse or neglect," according to the agency timeline.

The girl returned home to her mother and her partner on June 22, agency spokesman Bill McCaffrey said.

Two days later, she was brought to Comer Children’s Hospital in critical condition, according to police. She was pronounced dead about 12 hours later, at 11:36 p.m., the medical examiner’s office said.

An autopsy found Love died of injuries from child abuse and her death was ruled a homicide. Neither the medical examiner nor DCFS have released details of the injuries that caused the girl’s death.

Police said officers initially responded to a call of a child with a nosebleed when they met paramedics at Comer. They noted Cashawnna had old and fresh wounds, in addition to "severe" burns on her foot, according to Chicago Police Supt. David Brown.

Brown said earlier this week there have been no arrests or charges.

DCFS said it was focusing its investigation on the mother’s partner.