Illinois DCFS Ward Charged With Murder

“Kadiedra Shontell Speed’s experience in Illinois’ child-welfare system has included being placed with adoptive parents who ended up abusing her, stays in psychiatric hospitals, addresses at four homes in the last five years and several arrests for fighting, according to court records and sources.

Now 20, she’s still a ward of the state after her failed adoption, years earlier. Over Labor Day weekend, she had another run-in with the law — this time with deadly consequences.

After arguing with her 34-year-old roommate, Speed left in a rage and returned hours later, allegedly stabbing the woman to death in their basement apartment in Joliet, Will County prosecutors and neighbors say.

She’s believed to be the first ward in the care of the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services to be charged with murder since 2009, when another ward, D’Andre Howard, then 20, stabbed his fiancee’s sister, father and grandmother to death in Hoffman Estates.

A report in 2012 by the DCFS inspector general about that case — in which Howard was found guilty and is now serving three life sentences — was supposed to lead to greater oversight of hundreds of older wards, who typically are in “independent living” programs run by social service agencies that DCFS hires. Inspector General Denise Kane revealed Howard had a history of sexual assault arrests and a “long history of violence” that “indicated an urgent need for services.” But she concluded “a lack of communication among involved professionals,” including DCFS’ sexual abuse services coordinator, led to a DCFS contractor inadequately supervising Howard.

Whether child-welfare workers missed warning signs of potential violent behavior by Speed is difficult to assess. There’s no indication the fights she had in high school caused any serious injuries, and her most recent involvement in the court system before her murder arrest involved her winning an order of protection in February against a parolee boyfriend she said beat her up.

Karen Hawkins, DCFS’ communications chief, declined to comment about Speed, as did social service contractors who had worked with her.

Speed had been in an independent-living program at the time she filed the order of protection, court records show. She reported living in an apartment in Crest Hill, working at a Home Depot warehouse and attending Joliet Junior College. A college spokeswoman said Speed had been enrolled for the spring semester but did not complete her studies.”

Questions arise after DCFS ward charged with murder[Chicago Sun-Times 9/23/14 by Chris Fusco and Tony Arnold]

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