The original emergency-room report from the treatment of James Stroger’s spinal injury in 1999 stated that bystanders saw the brother of the Cook County Board president fall as he walked down the street, making no mention of a beating, investigators said Thursday.
The records from Provident Hospital of Cook County, where James Stroger was initially treated, do not indicate that the injuries were the result of a battery. James Stroger was transported to Cook County Hospital, now Stroger Hospital, a short time later, where a report stated that he “was hit on the head and fell down,” said Dr. Edmund Donoghue, Cook County’s chief medical examiner.
Donoghue had ruled the death a homicide this week before seeing the records from Provident. Donoghue stood by his ruling Thursday, saying that information about the injuries Stroger suffered and the comments from his brother, John Stroger, presented a “preponderance of evidence” that the death was a homicide.
James Stroger had been a quadriplegic since the 1999 incident and died Tuesday of complications from his injuries. Donoghue said John Stroger told him his brother was beaten by a group of youths near 51st Street and Indiana Avenue.
Chicago police are investigating but said there was no report of a beating. The only record of the incident, police spokesman Patrick Camden said, is the ambulance-transport record, which refers to bystanders’ statements at the scene that James Stroger fell.
Donoghue said the Provident report refers to the same information.
But Donoghue said he had a follow-up conversation with John Stroger since questions have arisen about the beating, and Stroger said he remembers seeing police officers in the emergency room at Provident when his brother was being treated. Donoghue said Stroger remembered that police told him that a woman who lived near the scene called and reported seeing a group of youths beating the man.
Stroger was unavailable for comment Thursday because he was attending a memorial service for his brother, said his spokeswoman, Caryn Stancik.
Camden said police have no records corroborating Stroger’s recollections.
Donoghue said the hospital records detail several head injuries, including abrasions and lacerations to James Stroger’s head and face, and an abrasion on his left knee.
Donoghue acknowledged the injury report did not indicate a battery but said “they’re not inconsistent with battery.”
