Left: A photo of 5-year-old Jean Carlos Martinez Rivero. (Provided by family) Right: A migrant shelter located at 2241 S. Halsted St. (WTTW News)
The death of a 5-year-old boy who suffered a medical emergency at a city-run migrant shelter in Pilsen late last year was primarily caused by sepsis, according to an autopsy.
Cook County Medical Examiner’s Office records indicate Jean Carlos Martinez Rivero’s death was ruled “natural” and attributed to sepsis and other viruses, including COVID-19, adenovirus and rhinovirus/enterovirus.
The results come nearly two months after the boy died. Block Club Chicago first reported on the autopsy findings Friday.
Martinez Rivero and his family arrived in Chicago on Nov. 30 and were placed in the shelter located at 2241 S. Halsted St. that same day, according to city officials.
The family left the shelter for part of the morning and early afternoon Dec. 17, returning at just after 2:30 p.m., the mayor’s office said in a statement. Just 13 minutes later, shelter staff witnessed a “medical emergency” and immediately called 911.
Staff at the shelter began administering first aid to the child, including chest compressions, officials said, until Chicago firefighters and paramedics arrived and took the boy to Comer Children’s Hospital. He was later pronounced dead.
Chicago police detectives launched an investigation into the death, but said it did not appear criminal in nature.
City officials maintained there was no outbreak at the shelter, but others there had also fallen ill and videos taken by shelter residents showed people coughing, children crying and water leaking from the ceiling onto the cots below.
Emails obtained last month by WTTW News revealed Mayor Brandon Johnson and city officials had been notified about sewage, roaches and illnesses at the Pilsen shelter more than a month before Martinez Rivero’s death. City officials responded to the WTTW News report, saying they were made aware of concerns and were working to address those weeks before the boy fell ill and later died.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
