Joliet Township house where Sema’j Crosby found burns to the ground

JOLIET TOWNSHIP – The Joliet Township house where 1-year-old Sema’j Crosby was found dead last month caught fire early Saturday.

The East Joliet Fire Protection District was called about 6 a.m. in response to smoke coming from the structure. Firefighters tried to put out the fire but decided to let it burn to the ground, Fire Chief Robert Scholtes said.

According to a news release from the Will County Sheriff’s Office, the decision to let the house burn was made due to the extent of the fire. The structure burned in about 45 minutes, Scholtes said.

An arson investigator from the State Fire Marshall’s Office will conduct an investigation to try to determine the cause and origin of the fire, according to the sheriff’s office.

“It’s pretty dumbfounding to think about it,” said Zachary Stocking, a next-door neighbor.

Stocking and his siblings saw the smoke a little before 6 a.m. and watched the house be consumed by the flames.

“My kids played there every day,” Stocking said. “Sometimes I let my kids spend the night there.”

Some local residents gathered shortly after 10 a.m. to pray outside the home.

They said they had originally planned to pray elsewhere, but when they heard of the fire, they came to the house.

State Sen. Pat McGuire, D-Joliet; Will County Board Minority Leader Herbert Brooks Jr., D-Joliet; and Will County Board Member Denise E. Winfrey, D-Joliet, held a news conference Saturday near the house.

“This is a ghastly turn of events for a community that was already wounded by the death of the 16-month-old who lived here,” McGuire said. “The wound is even deeper. I’m sure the dismay and confusion is even greater among residents of this area.”

Shortly after noon, an East Joliet Fire Protection District truck arrived on scene with sheriff’s officers and taped off the area.

Sema’j’s body was found in the home early April 27 under a couch with no legs, more than 24 hours after she was reported missing the evening of April 25.

The Will County Coroner’s Office has said further testing is needed to determine how she died and that those reports will take four to five weeks.

After Sema’j’s body was discovered, sheriff’s Deputy Chief Rick Ackerson described the home’s condition as “deplorable,” and the Will County Land Use Department tagged the residence as “unfit for occupancy.”

Everything in the house was destroyed in the blaze, although evidence important to the case had already been removed by investigators before the fire.

In addition to East Joliet firefighters, the New Lenox Fire Protection District also responded to the fire.

The sheriff’s office is asking anyone who may have seen something suspicious leading up to the time frame of the fire to contact its investigation division at 815-727-8574 or leave tips on the sheriff’s office website at www.willcosheriff.org.