State’s Attorney Candidate Eileen O’Neill Burke railroaded an 11-year-old Black child

In the mid-1990s, State’s Attorney candidate Eileen O’Neill Burke once prosecuted a Black boy on trumped-up charges that he murdered an elderly white woman when he was 10 years old, according to multiple news sources. The boy, known only by his initials, A.M., because the case was in juvenile court, gave a coerced confession after an interrogation took place without a parent or police youth officer present. It also took place without an attorney for A.M. and without video recording — steps now required by state law. 

A federal court later ruled that the police used illegal tactics and that the confession was coerced. O’Neill Burke was well aware that the juvenile was interrogated for multiple hours with no adult representing him present for the questioning. 

The murder victim, an 83-year-old white woman named Anna Gilvis, was found in the bathroom of her Marquette Park home. Court records say the victim was beaten with a cane, her throat was slit and she was tied up with a phone cord. There were also stolen items, including a gold watch and a diamond ring. 

The details of the confession did not match up to the police report. A.M. told the police he sneaked into Gilvis’ home through an unlocked back door. The evidence showed, however, that the back door was pried open. AM said he used rope from a hanging planter to tie Gilvis up, but she was actually tied by the hands, arms and neck with a telephone cord and her ankles were tied with a cloth ribbon. 

In addition, no evidence at the scene implicated A.M. There was a bloody palm print near the bathroom and a shoe print on the back porch. The print was from an adult, not a child. The evidence also showed the murder victim was dragged across the kitchen floor to the bathroom. The murder victim weighed 173 pounds. A.M. weighed 88 pounds, making it highly unlikely that A.M. could have physically dragged her. When the police asked A.M. how the murder victim got to the bathroom, he told them instead of being dragged after having her throat slit, that she “ran” to the bathroom. The 83-year-old victim used a cane to move around and was incapable of running anywhere. 

A.M had no previous criminal record. He had no psychological disorders, or history of violence or rage. He got good grades in school with no record for trouble or gang ties, his attorney said. He sang in the choir at the Hyde Park Seventh-Day Adventist Church.

Eileen O’Neill Burke knew about all these discrepancies between the false, coerced confession and the police report to know A.M. did not commit the heinous murder. She prosecuted him anyway, with A.M. being found guilty. The judge found A.M. delinquent in a juvenile petition of first-degree murder and placed in the custody of the state’s Department of Child and Family Services for five years. O’Neill Burke complained publicly that A.M. was not sent to jail. 

Rev. Jesse Jackson Endorses Bob Fioretti

On October 5, 2024, Reverend Jesse L. Jackson, Sr. endorsed Republican candidate for Cook County State’s Attorney, Bob Fioretti.

“Today I proudly endorse Bob Fioretti for Cook County State’s Attorney. 

“Bob Fioretti has championed our community for many years as an advocate, a civil rights lawyer, an alderman, and a friend. 

“Like former U.S. Senator Chuck Percy, Bob is a leader and advocate for fairness, equality, and diversity. We used to feed the Confederates and the poor. We used to have to go from Chicago to Mississippi stopping to use the bathroom very carefully. We won the battle against southern New Orleans, LA; Bull Connor from Birmingham, AL; and former Senator Strom Thurmond. There was a lock on the minds of Confederates.

“As a civil rights lawyer, Bob has been a voice for the voiceless, defending the innocent, exonerating the wrongfully convicted, and fighting for what’s right. As an Alderman, Bob created more than 8,000 jobs for our community, fought for great schools and against school closings, and started Operation Safe Passage to keep our kids safe. As our friend, when we need his help, Bob is there. Always, He never asks about race, religion, money, or the zip code of those who need help. We know that Bob has always been on our side. And we are on his side. 

“We need Bob Fioretti as Cook County State’s Attorney. This is not about party labels. This is about electing our community’s best State’s Attorney, who will temper justice with mercy. It is not the first time I have endorsed a Republican. It may not be the last. When the Republican candidate is extraordinary and the choice is crystal clear, we back the Republican, especially if his name is Bob Fioretti. 

“The difference in the civil rights records of Bob and his opponent couldn’t be more clear. The woman who is also running for State’s Attorney prosecuted an 11-year old child. When she was a prosecutor, she railroaded an eleven-year-old African-American boy with a coerced confession she knew or should have known was false. During the trial, she called this innocent child, “A whole new breed of criminal.” To our community, this racist statement is disqualifying. We cannot afford to have a State’s Attorney who talks and thinks about our children this way. Bob helps the wrongfully convicted, and his opponent wrongfully convicts them. .

“To elect Bob, we need to split our ticket this year. After we vote for Kamala Harris for President, we must cross over and vote for Fioretti for State’s Attorney. Our kids’ future depends on it.”

The comment also drew a rebuke from other Democratic elected officials, who called the remarks “troubling” and concerning.

When O’Neill Burke’s role in the wrongful conviction was raised in the primary, far from apologizing, she doubled down, saying the confession, as opposed to the police report, was “the most compelling” evidence. She also blamed others for the wrongful conviction, including the public defender’s office and the police department. 

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