Chicago mother charged with killing 8-year-old daughter, one day after social worker visited family
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CLICK HERE for the warning signs and risk factors of suicide. Call 1-800-273-TALK for free and confidential emotional support.
A day after a child welfare worker visited her Uptown home, Andreal Hagler walked up to her sleeping 8-year-old daughter and slipped a plastic bag over her head, according to police.
Amaria Osby woke up and began screaming for her to stop, but Hagler continued to hold the girl down, according to a police report. Hagler then put the bag over her own head and laid next to her daughter on the bed.
That’s how Hagler’s brother-in-law found them when he visited the first-floor apartment in the 4600 block of North Winthrop Avenue around 11 a.m. Wednesday, police said.
Amaria was dead but Hagler was still alive, police said. The brother-in-law called his wife, who called 911. Paramedics tried to tend to her but Hagler "stiffened her arms and body and refused to release her hands," the police report states.
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Hagler was finally cuffed so she could receive medical treatment before being taken to Weiss Memorial Hospital in good condition. An autopsy on her daughter determined she had died from injuries suffered during an assault.
Andreal Hagler | Chicago police
Hagler, 38, has been charged with first-degree murder.
A case worker for the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services had visited the family a day before the murder, but the agency said "no signs of abuse, neglect or danger were noted by our investigator."
DCFS said it had "prior contact with this family," and that the family had participated in intact family services from a substance abuse related incident in 2017. The recent visit was the result of an allegation of domestic violence, and was the first contact with the family since closing the prior case in 2018.
The agency said the domestic violence allegation involved abuse of one parent by the other, not abuse of the child.
In 2017, Hagler was arrested for DUI and child endangerment after crashing on the Eisenhower Expressway near Peoria Street, court records show. State police said Hagler was "dazed and confused," could not spell her last name and did not seem to be aware that she had crashed the car against a concrete median.
Her daughter, 3 years old at the time, was in the back seat. The girl was released to the custody of Hagler’s sister, the court records show.
If you or a loved one is feeling distressed, call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline. The crisis center provides free and confidential emotional support 24 hours a day, 7 days a week to civilians and veterans. Call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255 (tel:18002738255). Or text HOME to 741-741 (Crisis Text Line)
CLICK HERE for the warning signs and risk factors of suicide. Call 1-800-273-TALK for free and confidential emotional support.