Mid-July 2015: neighbors called police to a bungalow on South Drexel Avenue in Chatham after noticing a strong odor. Officers entered on July 18 and discovered three young boys and their mother deceased and in advanced decomposition. Early autopsies were inconclusive because of the condition of the remains.

The Cook County medical examiner later ruled the mother’s death a homicide by ligature strangulation, publicly announced July 28, 2015. By spring 2016 the medical examiner had identified the two older boys as 11-year-old Andrew Simms Jr. and 10-year-old Kameron Simms. Andrew’s death was attributed to probable inhalation of products of combustion in what was described as an incendiary house fire; Kameron’s death was attributed to carbon monoxide toxicity and inhalation of combustion products. The youngest boy, 5-year-old Kantrell Williams, was also found dead at the scene.

Residents remembered the family as visible on the block before the house fell silent in the week before the discovery. Anyone with information about Andrew Simms Jr. or the incident is asked to come forward.