Judge orders DCFS director to answer for repeated failures to release
public documents in child death
[August 12, 2026]
By Peter Hancock
SPRINGFIELD — A circuit court judge in Sangamon County threatened
Tuesday to begin assessing daily fines against the Illinois Department
of Children and Family Services for its repeated failure to appear in
court or comply with orders to hand over documents related to the death
of a teenager who was in the agency’s care.
Judge Jack Davis II issued an order Tuesday for DCFS Director Heidi
Mueller to appear personally at a Sept. 9 hearing to show cause why she
and the agency should not continue to be held in contempt over repeated
refusals to appear in court or comply with orders to produce records
related to an 18-year-old girl who died while in foster care in 2024.
Capitol News Illinois sued for access to the personnel records of two
caseworkers and one supervisor who were responsible for monitoring
Mackenzi Felmlee, the girl who died.
According to doctors, Mackenzi died May 11, 2024, from a blood clot that
hit her lungs. She was found struggling to breathe at the bottom of the
basement stairs in a Fairview Heights foster home. Doctors reported she
died of a blood clot that hit her lungs. Her neck, shoulders, legs and
face were bruised, and her dehydrated body weighed just 90 pounds.
Her foster mother, Shemeka Williams, and foster grandmother, Cornelia
Reid, are charged with murder in connection with Mackenzi’s death. Both
are currently being held in the St. Clair County Jail.
Williams was licensed through Lutheran Children and Family Services, a
nonprofit agency that provides foster care services on contract with
DCFS.
According to a timeline of the incident released by DCFS, Williams
purportedly told an LCFS caseworker during an in-person visit that
Mackenzi was “struggling” two days before her death. The caseworker,
however, did not document that conversation until five days after
Mackenzi’s death.
LCFS later reported the visit was made by phone, not in person.
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The Illinois Department of Children and Family Services has been
held in contempt of court for failing to produce documents related
to the 2024 death of an 18-year-old girl who was in foster care.
(Capitol News Illinois illustration)
As part of an investigative reporting project, Capitol News Illinois
requested copies of the personnel files of two caseworkers and one
supervisor assigned to Mackenzi’s case. DCFS denied that request.
In March, Springfield attorney Don Craven filed suit on behalf of CNI
and reporter Beth Hundsdorfer, alleging DCFS violated the Illinois
Freedom of Information Act and asking for an order to compel DCFS to
produce the records. DCFS did not respond to that lawsuit and, when the
case was called for a hearing in June, attorneys for the agency did not
appear.
On June 10, Judge Davis issued an order finding DCFS “willfully and
intentionally violated” the Freedom of Information Act when it failed to
release the requested information. He also ordered DCFS to produce the
records within five days and to pay CNI’s costs, attorney fees and a
$5,000 civil penalty.
After DCFS failed to respond to that order, CNI filed another motion
asking the court to order DCFS and Mueller to appear personally and
explain the noncompliance with the court’s previous order.
But when that motion was called for a hearing Tuesday, DCFS again failed
to appear.
Davis then set another hearing date for Sept. 9 and ordered DCFS and
Mueller to appear or face additional sanctions. Davis could then order
“appropriate coercive penalties,” including ordering them to pay $1,000
a day for each day of noncompliance.
Capitol News Illinois is
a nonprofit, nonpartisan news service that distributes state government
coverage to hundreds of news outlets statewide. It is funded primarily
by the Illinois Press Foundation and the Robert R. McCormick
Foundation. |
