The Justice for Semaj Action Team will host a gathering to memorialize the two year anniversary of Semaj Crosby’s death.

On Saturday April 27th 2019 beginning at 9:00a.m. people will meet in a private open lot at Iowa & Second Avenue in Joliet. There will be a balloon release plus a tree will be planted in memory of Semaj. The Justice for Semaj Action Team is expected to issue a brief update.

The public is welcome to attend as well as join in after as the land owner invites us to assist in planting donated flowers & plants throughout the lot to beautify this area.

It was on April 25 of 2017 that Semaj Crosby was reported missing by her mother Sherri Gordon. The child was discovered two days later, having suffocated under a couch in the home on Louis Road. The home, which was later condemned, burned down in a suspected arson 10 days later. Semaj’s, father, James Gordon, has filed lawsuit against Sherri Gordon and the Children’s Home & Aid Society of Illinois.

The Children’s Home & Aid Society of Illinois was the agency assigned to monitor Miss Gordon and her children’s well-being. An employee with Children’s Aid had visited that house the very day Semaj disappeared. The lawsuit contends that the combined negligence of Miss Gordon and Children’s Aid Society contributed to the death of Semaj. While Semaj’s death has been declared a homicide, no one has been charged but several individuals who lived inside the home, including Miss Gordon, have been labeled as persons of interest.

The Illinois Department of Child and Family Services assigned the case to Children’s Home and Aid Society in September of 2016.