Crime & Law

Chicago Taxpayers Pay $75K to Family of Woman Who Died From Drug Overdose in Cop’s RV

Chicago taxpayers paid $75,000 to resolve a lawsuit filed by the family of a woman who died from a drug overdose in August 2021 in an RV owned by a Chicago police officer, according to city records obtained by WTTW News.

Treasure Hendrix, 35, died after ingesting a toxic cocktail of cocaine, methamphetamine, fentanyl and ecstasy, according to the Cook County Medical Examiner’s Office. Her death was the result of an accidental overdose, according to her autopsy.

Chicago police Officer Charlie Bell, who owned the RV that was parked near 15th and Western streets in an industrial part of the Near West Side when Hendrix died, resigned seven days after her death. Bell began collecting an annual pension of more than $55,600 in March 2023.

Hendrix’s family sued Bell in December 2021, claiming he gave her the drugs that led to her death. The two had been romantically involved for several years at the time of her death, according to the lawsuit.

Hendrix’s family and friends held a march in November 2021 to demand answers from law enforcement authorities about her death, according to Block Club Chicago. They also used social media to link Hendrix’s death with dozens of other cases of missing or murdered Black women.

The lawsuit filed by Hendrix’s family expanded in January 2023 to include the city of Chicago after the family alleged that Bell stole the drugs that killed her from CPD’s evidence storage and dealers he encountered while on duty.

Attorney Gregory Kulis, who represented Hendrix’s mother, Cynthia, in the lawsuit, declined to make his former client available for comment, saying she was legally prohibited from commenting on the lawsuit, which was filed in Cook County Circuit Court.

Bell, who worked for CPD for 21 years, now lives in Florida and could not be reached for comment.

Bell, who told investigators he slept in the RV while renting his West Town home for short stretches on a home-sharing platform, was in the RV the night Hendrix died.

After Bell’s resignation, CPD probed allegations he took drugs with Hendrix and violated two departmental rules: one that prohibits officers from associating with people convicted of a felony and another that requires officers to provide department officials with the current and correct home address.

Contact Heather Cherone: @HeatherCherone | (773) 569-1863 | [email protected]

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