Kristine
Kristine, a 47-year-old mother of two from Buffalo Grove, was described by her mother as healthy and an athlete who did not drink or use drugs. She was held in police custody and moved from a state psychiatric hospital to Riveredge Hospital in Forest Park on June 7, 2013. Staff found her early the next morning with a bed sheet tied around her neck and threaded through a ceiling vent, and she was kept on life support at Loyola University Medical Center until she died on June 12. The Cook County Medical Examiner's report, as reported by the Forest Park Review, classifies the death as a suicide; state regulators found the vent grille in her room posed a ligature risk. Her family's attorney says the transfer was made without the family being contacted.
Cause of death, as reported: Died by suicide (disputed; neglect alleged). The Cook County medical examiner ruled it suicide, but the family's attorney says the hospital's ligature-risk vent was a known hazard and that the transfer was made without contacting the family.
Reported by: Cook County Medical Examiner's report (medical examiner or coroner); the family's attorney (family or their lawyers); Forest Park Review (reporters).