A week before Christmas, Irene Chavez was at a gay bar on the South Side when she was arrested for simple battery.
Chavez, 33, ended up in a cell at the Grand Crossing Police Station. A few hours later, two detectives showed up at the Chavez family home on the South Side to deliver some devastating news: Chavez had been found hanged in that cell, her family says they were told.
On Monday, family gathered outside the police station at 7040 S. Cottage Grove Ave. to set up a makeshift memorial to honor Chavez and to seek answers. They say police have offered almost no specifics about the circumstances surrounding Chavez’s death.
“I asked detectives questions, and I hit a red light, a stop sign, a door every single time.” Chavez’s sister, Iris Chavez, told reporters.
Irene and Iris Chavez’s parents stood nearby Monday outside the station; mother Cynthia Chavez at one point dropped to her knees to pray on the wet pavement.
Iris Chavez said police gave her a heavily redacted incident report the morning her sister died. She said they told her her sister had hanged herself with a shirt. Irene Chavez was at Jeffery Pub on South Jeffery, where she was arrested for simple battery, her sister said. But the sister said she knows almost nothing about the circumstances of the arrest, including what led to it.
“If you danced with her that night at Jeffery Pub or just bought her a drink or she bought you one, come forward. Nobody is giving me answers,” Iris Chavez said.
The department notified the Civilian Office of Police Accountability that Chavez “attempted suicide,” at a 3rd District Tactical Office about 3:20 a.m. Dec. 18, according to a statement released by COPA on Monday night.
Chavez was then transported to the University of Chicago Hospital in critical condition and was pronounced dead about 11:30 a.m. that morning, COPA said.
COPA “immediately” began investigating the case and officials were present for the autopsy conducted by the Cook County medical examiner’s office.
COPA has obtained body camera footage of Chavez’s initial arrest, but according to the statement, “there is no video surveillance of Ms. Chavez in the 3rd Police District Tactical Office where the alleged suicide attempt occurred.”
Irene Chavez, a U.S. military veteran, had been dealing with PTSD and had been getting treatment, her sister said. She’d been out of the military for about three years and was between jobs after recently moving back to Chicago from Texas, her sister said. She’d had a variety of jobs since leaving the military and hoped to work full time in community farming, friends said.
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“What we know is Irene died in the custody of the Chicago police. What we know is Irene Chavez was a bright light in this community, serving our country … loved by her family and friends, loved by the LGBT community,” said Andrew Stroth, a civil rights attorney working with the Chavez family.
Stroth called on Mayor Lori Lightfoot and Chicago Police Supt. David Brown to help the Chavez family in their search for answers.
“We know there is video that exists,” Stroth said. “We know Iris shouldn’t get a redacted police report. The family wants answers. The family is demanding truth.”
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Beneath a tree outside the police station, family and friends set up a temporary memorial, with photographs of a smiling Irene Chavez, Christmas decorations, sports jerseys from her favorite football team, the Green Bay Packers, along with two dozen candles in the Packers colors — green and yellow.
The family walked through the front doors of the police station Monday to see if they could get some of their questions answered. They were politely told by the watch commander to contact COPA.
Since the incident occurred while Chavez was in police custody, COPA will also provide notification to the state’s attorney’s office and Federal Bureau of Investigation for possible criminal review.
