Alton teen died after mother concealed her diabetes, charges allege — ‘totally treatable’ and ‘heartbreaking’, says prosecutor Teen’s ‘treatable’ illness was concealed, State’s Attorney says

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EDWARDSVILLE — An Alton woman was charged Thursday with involuntary manslaughter and endangering the life and health of a child, after allegedly concealing her late daughter’s illness from others.

Amber L. Hampshire, 39, of the 300 block of Brentwood Boulevard, Alton, was charged Thursday morning.

Emily Ikue-Rose Hampshire, 14, died Nov. 3 from diabetic ketoacidosis at Cardinal Glennon Hospital.

“What the charges allege that she (Hampshire) unintentionally killed her daughter by committing acts which were likely to cause death or great bodily harm,” Madison County State’s Attorney Tom Gibbons said. “And the meat and potatoes of the allegation is that she took measures to conceal Emily’s diabetes.”

According to an affidavit filed with a search warrant by the Alton Police Department, on Nov. 1 a 911 call reported an unresponsive 14-year-old later identified as Emily Hampshire at her home on Brentwood.

She was taken to St. Anthony’s Hospital and later transferred to Cardinal Glennon Children’s Hospital in “poor condition.”

Her parents reported she had been sick for several days before being found unresponsive.

According to the affidavit, Amber Hampshire told the medical staff at Cardinal Glennon that Emily had been admitted to St. Louis Children’s Hospital in the past year for pneumonia. She also told them Emily “also had high sugars at the time, but insulin was not needed and she was never prescribed insulin.”

However, she refused to allow the release of medical records from St. Louis Children’s Hospital.

“Zachary and Amber Hampshire reported to Alton Police officers and medical staff the Emily had been sick for the past couple of days with vomiting, diarrhea and nausea prior to being found unresponsive on the morning of 11/01/18,” the affidavit reads.

“According to medical records, Amber explained to medical staff at Cardinal Glennon Hospital that E.H. (Emily) was admitted to St. Louis Children’s Hospital within the past year with pneumonia. Amber also explained that E.H. also had high sugars at that time, but insulin was not needed and she was never prescribed insulin.

“Amber was asked by Cardinal Glennon staff to authorize the release of medical records from St. Louis Children’s Hospital to Cardinal Glennon regarding that past treatment, but she (Amber) refused.”

Emily was pronounced dead at 4:09 p.m. Nov. 3.

The affidavit stated that the medical staff at Cardinal Glennon were eventually able to obtain Emily’s medical records from St. Louis Children’s Hospital, which showed she had been first diagnosed with diabetes in November 2013, and both the mother and daughter had been informed of the diagnosis.

In February 2018 Emily was admitted to St. Louis Children’s Hospital with pneumonia and diabetic ketoacidosis, and was prescribed insulin as “routine medicine” after her release. Both Emily and her mother were provided with extensive education on Emily’s medical and dietary needs.

The hospital scheduled three follow-up appointments, but Emily never came back, and there is “no known evidence” that her insulin prescription was ever filled.

Emily was a student at the Evangelical United Church school, and a DCFS investigator confirmed that around February 2018 the school received notification of a medical plan for Emily, but her mother, then an employee, said the diagnosis was incorrect and they could disregard the notice.

At the time of Emily’s death, a social worker documented that medical neglect could have played a part in her death.

The search warrant affidavit reveals that several items related to the treatment of Emily’s diabetes were seized from the Brentwood Boulevard home, including Humalong Kwikpens insulin delivery devices, a blood glucose monitoring system and two unused Glucagon emergency injection kits prescribed to Emily.

Also seized was were diabetes knowledge assessment tests and a packet regarding diabetes care with a daily schedule and checklist.

A second search warrant was filed for the contents of a cell phone found in the residence that reportedly belonged to Emily.

Bail was set at $100,000 by Associate Judge Neil Schroeder. If convicted the penalty for the manslaughter is 3-14 years. The endangering charge carries a penalty of 2-10 years.

Additional documentation with the search warrant showed a number of items related to the care and treatment of diabetes were recovered from the Hampshire home.

Gibbons called the case “heartbreaking,” noting that the disease was “completely treatable.”

“We can’t fathom in our hearts or our minds why a parent would commit this kind of act to put their child in such great danger, when treatment and support were readily available,” he said. “The investigation indicates very strongly that the defendant took repeated, substantial steps to conceal the disease from everyone around her.”