Photos were released of the living conditions of 16-month-old Semaj Crosby before she died, and one judge wants answers

With the new information that has come forward on the case of Semaj Crosby, Judge Paula Gomora demanded answers from the Department of Child and Family Services caseworker who had been investigating the family.

Semaj Crosby, 16-month-old daughter of Sheri Gordon, was found dead in her home Thursday morning in Joliet Township. Recently, police have released photographs of the home Semaj was found in which prompted Judge Gomora’s outrage with the DCFS caseworker involved.

Hours before Semaj was reported missing a DCFS agent had been at the home and claimed there were no serious threats to the Semaj or her two brothers. The photographs revealed something entirely different however, and Judge Gomora made that well aware during a hearing on the case Tuesday.

“What did [DCFS] do to help the family and to help these children?” Judge Gomora asked, according to the Chicago Tribune. “Quite honestly, from what I saw, I don’t know how any caseworker could’ve walked into that house and let those children stay.”

DCFS has been in contact with the family since September and has had contact with them 16 times since last year, according to the Tribune. The history includes four unfounded cases for neglect and two open cases filed in March.

Judge Gomora stated caseworkers did not make reasonable efforts to help these children, otherwise they would have been removed from the home long ago, according to the Tribune.

By the end of the hearing, Judge Gomora placed Semaj’s oldest brother with his father who lives in Joliet and allowed the the mother supervised visits at the discretion of DCFS. The other child, a 2-year-old boy, was placed in the custody of DCFS in the absence of his father at the court hearing.

A third child with the same father as Semaj remains in the hospital where he was admitted prior to Semaj’s death for unknown reasons, according to the Tribune.

While the case is still open, police have not yet arrested anyone despite the fact that they continue to report her death as having unexplained causes.