April 26--The Cook County medical examiner's office said two boys who were found dead in 2015, along with their mother and youngest sibling, died of smoke inhalation in a fire that was set at their East Chatham home.
The deaths of Andrew Simms Jr., 11, and Kameron Simms, 10, were previously ruled homicides by the office, but they had not been officially identified. It took more than eight months for the office to identify the two boys because the complex testing, that included DNA testing, takes up to a year to complete, said Becky Schlikerman, a spokeswoman for the medical examiner's office.
There was no update on the case available from police Tuesday.
The boys' decomposing bodies, along with their mother and their 5-year-old brother, were discovered inside a red brick house in the 8300 block of South Drexel Avenue around 8:25 p.m. on July 18. There was evidence of a fire inside the home, but officials said they never received a call at that address.
The mother, Latoya Jackson, 28, appeared to have suffered head trauma and had burns on her body, authorities said. It was later determined she died of strangulation and her death was ruled a homicide, according to the medical examiner's office.
The cause of death of the 5-year-old, Kantrell Williams, was probable inhalation of products of combustion in an incendiary fire, and his death was ruled a homicide.
The medical examiner's office said Tuesday in a statement that Andrew Simms Jr. also died of probable inhalation of products of combustion in an incendiary fire. Kameron Simms, it said, died of carbon monoxide toxicity and inhalation of products of combustion in an incendiary fire.
The family of four had recently moved to the Drexel Avenue address after leaving their longtime home about a mile east, relatives said.
