Charges possible in death of girl, 2

By CORINA CURRY

Rockford Register Star

ROCKFORD - Authorities hope to know by the end of today whether charges will be filed in the death of a Loves Park toddler.

Esther Scudder, 2, died June 14 at Rockford Memorial Hospital. Several agencies, including local police, the Winnebago County coroner's office, the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services and the Winnebago County state's attorney's office, have investigated her death. State's Attorney Paul Logli said Thursday that his office received most of the autopsy information.

"We have not made any decisions," Logli said. "We've received most of the information that we were waiting for. Now it's a matter of sitting down and going over what we have over the next couple days to determine if there will be any charges filed."

DCFS removed Esther's sister, Bethany, 5, from the home shortly after Esther's death, agency spokesman Andy Martinez said.

Loves Park police were called to the Scudder home at 7:12 p.m. June 13. They found Esther's mother, Sandra Scudder, 53, administering mouth-to-mouth resuscitation to the girl, who was struggling to breathe. The only other person at home was Bethany.

Initially, police said the girl had bruises on her body that appeared to be more severe than what a 2-year-old gets from playing or running around. Since then, authorities have said little other than the investigation is ongoing.

Esther was born in Hunan Province, China. Scudder adopted her.

In another suspicious death of a child, authorities charged Jennifer Stahl, 23, last week with involuntary manslaughter in the death of her 15-month-old girl. Amanda Stahl was not breathing when paramedics arrived July 30 at her home on Marion Drive. She could not be revived and was pronounced dead at OSF Saint Anthony Medical Center.

Amanda's autopsy indicated that suffocation could have played a role in her death. There were no outward signs of trauma. Winnebago County Coroner Sue Fiduccia said it didn't appear that the child died from natural causes.

Contact: ccurry@smtp.registerstar tower.com 815-987-1395