A 5-year old boy, Jean Carlos Martinez Rivero, who was found unresponsive at a Pilsen migrant shelter in December, died as a result of sepsis due to strep; COVID-19 and two other viral infections were listed as contributing factors, NBC 5 Investigates learned late Friday from Cook County Medical Examiner’s office.
The death of Jean Carlos Martinez Rivero on December 17 drew additional attention to Chicago’s migrant crisis and led to renewed criticism about shelters conditions from volunteers and the migrants themselves - some of whom expressed concerns about what they called inadequate medical care available to them inside the city’s temporary shelters.
The day after the boy’s death, Mayor Brandon Johnson’s office said that the boy’s family arrived in Chicago on November 30, and on that same day, underwent intake at the shelter at 2241 S. Halsted.
“According to the incident report, on December 17, the Martinez family left the shelter for part of the morning and early afternoon, returning at 2:32 p.m. Approximately 13 minutes later, shelter staff witnessed a medical emergency and immediately responded by calling 911, after which staff began administering first aid to the child. Shelter staff performed chest compressions while waiting for emergency responders to arrive. Chicago firefighters and paramedics arrived shortly thereafter and immediately transported the child to Comer Children’s Hospital where he was pronounced deceased,” according to the city’s statement said at the time.
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One volunteer – who toured the shelter the day after the child’s death - told NBC 5 Investigates that the building was cold, people were sick and that they did not have adequate space to isolate and that crews appeared to be cleaning.
Veronica Saldana is one of two volunteers who toured the migrant shelter.
“I’m really concerned about all those sick kids. We were told only about 30 people were seen yesterday and there are well over 2,000 people in that shelter,” Saldana said, referring to health assessment teams who were on site on Monday.
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Saldana told us she spoke to the parents of Jean Carlos Martinez Rivero the day after he died said who were having a hard time with the loss of their 5-year-old son.
“They’re very upset but they say they are being treated well. And just not really saying much,” she said.
In January, when internal emails emerged showing Johnson’s office was aware of concerns at the shelter as far back as October, the mayor’s spokesman released a statement saying in part:
“The City was aware of issues raised regarding conditions at the shelter at 2241 S. Halsted and had actively been in the process of addressing the situation. While the City recognizes that there is still more work to be done to improve the quality of temporary housing for the nearly 15,000 new arrivals in 28 active shelters, we have also taken concrete action to address any and all concerns related to conditions at City-run shelters as they have arisen,” Johnson’s spokesman Ronnie Reese said in a January 18th email.
This is a developing story.
