2 Elgin women accused of starving young boy

Two Elgin women are facing felony charges, accused of starving a child to the point his heart stopped.

The boy’s mother, Natali Cruz Gemchi, 31, and a caregiver, Eulalia Vences, 52, are each charged with aggravated battery to a child under 13, aggravated domestic battery and endangering the life, health or safety of a child.

Prosecutors are seeking extended-term sentences for both of them, saying their actions were “exceptionally brutal, heinous and indicative of wanton cruelty,” a legal standard under Illinois law.

The women were indicted on April 30 and arrested on May 1.

On Thursday, Kane County Judge Julia Yetter denied pretrial release for both of them, saying there were no conditions of release that could guarantee they were not a danger to specific people or the public.

“The evidence received shows the long-term, systematic torture of a child who has been completely isolated from the outside world and completely isolated from anyone from whom he could seek help, and that she (Gemchi) is capable of inflicting severe harm on an individual,” Yetter said.

And even though the boy and his 9-year-old sister are now in the custody of the Department of Child and Family Services, Yetter said that without more information about where the children are staying, there is no guarantee Gemchi would not be able to see the children.

The battery charges allege that between March 5, 2021, and March 5, 2024, the two women did not provide adequate food to the boy and did not provide medical care.

Kane County Assistant State’s Attorney Lori Schmidt said the boy was 7 years old and weighed 26 pounds. The boy was never taken to a doctor and was not enrolled in school. The sister attended school.

But Gemchi’s attorney, assistant public defender Michelle Tilmon, said there may be a medical condition that would account for the boy’s smallness. She also said the mother had taken the boy to a doctor at least three times — for a COVID-19 test, for COVID-19 treatment and when he had a fever.

She argued the state had not presented any evidence to indicate the child had been hit and not enough evidence overall to establish there was probable cause for the charges.

Yetter said a police synopsis showed Gemchi took the boy to St. Joseph Hospital in Elgin on March 5. The child was not breathing, Yetter said.

The synopsis said Gemchi told police the boy had lost weight due to a “fast metabolism.” When they asked to see a history of photos of the boy, the most recent on the phone was from 2021. When they asked her why, she said that was because the boy was not photogenic, according to the synopsis.

Yetter said that per the synopsis, the police searched the women’s home and that the boy had been staying in a bedroom that had no furniture or clothing, with two foam pads and a urine-soaked sheet as his bed.

Doctors at the hospital reported the boy suffered from physical and mental complications due to malnutrition and isolation, and it had happened over a long term. He could not walk, Yetter said.

Schmidt said Vences had lived with the family for 10 years and cared for the boy while Gemchi was at work.

“She clearly was aware of his medical condition,” Schmidt said. “He was tortured, was starved, held captive in a room basically away from society.”