A 69-year-old woman will be held without bail after she was charged with murder in the death of her 87-year-old mother in her South Side senior apartment building, according to the Cook County state’s attorney’s office.
Shearly Gaines, 69, of Chicago, was charged with one felony count of first-degree murder after she was arrested on Wednesday, Chicago police said. She was ordered to be held without bail in bond court Friday, according to the state’s attorney’s office.
Mae Brown, 87, was found unresponsive in her wheelchair inside her home in the Lincoln Perry senior apartments Saturday afternoon.
Brown suffered multiple injuries from an assault, and her death was ruled a homicide, according to the Cook County medical examiner’s office.
Brown was Gaines’ mother, according to the state’s attorney’s office. She had lived in her one-bedroom apartment at the senior home for about eight years. Gaines did not live there with her mother.
Chicago police were called to Brown’s apartment on Oct. 12 by Gaines, who wanted to report a theft because Brown had been the payee for Gaines’ Social Security disability payments, according to the state’s attorney’s office. Gaines was diagnosed with schizophrenia when she was 20.
Officers settled the dispute on scene and left but were called back a short time later when Brown asked Gaines to leave her apartment and Gaines refused. Brown’s younger daughter arrived at the apartment, and Gaines was escorted out by police.
Gaines was then seen on video surveillance footage entering Brown’s apartment on Oct. 13 wearing a blue sweatshirt and carrying a blue purse, authorities said. No one else was then seen entering or leaving the unit until surveillance showed Gaines leave on the morning of Oct. 15. Brown’s unit only had one point of entry, which was the interior hallway of the apartment building, the state’s attorney’s office said.
Brown’s younger daughter last spoke with Brown on the phone on Oct. 14 and went to Brown’s apartment on the afternoon of Oct. 15, the state’s attorney’s office said. When no one answered the door, Brown’s younger daughter asked maintenance to let her in, and she found her mother unresponsive with several injuries to her head and blood around her. Brown was pronounced dead at the scene.
Gaines was identified by video surveillance and found on Wednesday wearing the same blue sweatshirt and carrying the same blue purse, the state’s attorney’s office said. She was also found with plastic bags, one of which has a screwdriver and a dagger inside, and the dagger was consistent with Brown’s injuries, the state’s attorney’s office said.
Gaines’ next court date is Nov. 9.
