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Bronzeville Woman Killed by Foster Son, Police Say

By Erin Meyer | March 28, 2014 6:48am | Updated on March 28, 2014 6:39pm
 Joshua David Brooks is accused of killing his foster mother, 58-year-old Dorothy McGee, Tuesday afternoon.
Joshua David Brooks is accused of killing his foster mother, 58-year-old Dorothy McGee, Tuesday afternoon.
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Chicago Police Department

CHICAGO — A man was charged with murdering his foster mother in a fight at their Bronzeville home Tuesday afternoon.

Joshua David Brooks, 21, got in an argument with his 58-year-old foster mother at their home in the 400 block of East 46th Street about 4 p.m.

The woman, identified as Dorothy McGee, had taken Brooks in to live with her, prosecutors said Friday when he appeared in court on the murder charge.

They started fighting Tuesday afternoon when Brooks refused to help McGee carry something in from her car, prosecutors said. Brooks cornered McGee, pushed her to the ground and punched her multiple times. 

The woman sought help from a neighbor, and the two of them ordered Brooks out of the house, prosecutors said. But as he was collecting his belongings, McGee started frothing at the mouth and lost consciousness.

She was pronounced dead at 4:56 p.m. Tuesday at the University of Chicago Hospitals, according to the Cook County Medical Examiner's Office.

McGee's cause of death was a stress-induced heart attack brought on by Brooks, prosecutors said.

An autopsy showed McGee died due to a combination of heart disease, diabetes, obesity and stress caused by the altercation.

A public defender representing Brooks said in court on Friday that he has been active in the Apostolic Church of God and graduated as valedictorian from his high school.

Cook County Judge Laura Sullivan ordered Brooks held without bail.