CHATHAM — A woman found dead alongside her three children in Chatham had been strangled, officials announced Tuesday.
But the cause of death for the three children is still pending, according to Frank Shuftan, a Cook County spokesman.
On July 18, police found Latoya Jackson, 28, and her three children, aged 11, 9 and 5, dead and decomposed inside their home on the 8300 block of South Drexel Avenue in Chatham.
Police had said inside the house they found evidence of a small fire, which may have been set intentionally.
In the days after the bodies were found, neighbors said they were shocked by what police found.
“Those bodies had been there for awhile, nobody saw the kids or heard from the mother,” said Richard Wooten, who runs the neighborhood group Gathering Point Community Council, days after the bodies were found. “As family and friends, we should be checking on each other, but most people don’t do that anymore.”
In addition to the Chicago Police and Fire departments, the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives investigated the scene.
“To think someone would kill three kids, it’s horrible, it’s unimaginable,” Ald. Michelle Harris (8th) said after the bodies were found. “I am deeply saddened and appalled that anyone could feel that it’s OK to do this. It’s unfathomable to think anyone could have such little regard to the lives of children and a woman."
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