Photo by Jeff Rudolph of Box Alarm Photography.
Photo by Jeff Rudolph of Box Alarm Photography.

The teenage boy who was rescued from a house fire in Grayslake on Tuesday suffered a gunshot wound to the head prior to the fire, police said.

Police also said that the boy’s 65-year-old grandmother, Deborah St. Antione-Browne, who also lived in the house, killed herself on Thursday after being being interviewed by police.

Firefighters and police responded at around 12:35 a.m. Tuesday morning to a report of a house fire with someone trapped inside in the 400 block of Normandy Lane in Grayslake.

Police officers arrived on the scene first and reportedly could hear a teenage boy screaming for help from inside the house that was on fire. Three police officers helped rescue the teen and brought him out the front door when firefighters were arriving, officials said. The fire was knocked down by about 1:20 a.m..

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All three police officers and the teen boy transported by ambulance to Advocate Condell Hospital in Libertyville. All three police officers have been released from the hospital. The 17-year-old boy has since been transferred to Loyola University Medical Center in Maywood in critical condition.

A .38-caliber pistol was recovered from the house later that morning, police said.

Investigators took several statements from witnesses and the fire victims which led them to St. Antione-Browne. On Thursday afternoon investigators interviewed St. Antione-Browne at Loyola University Medical Center and obtained statements, fingerprints, and DNA.

Two hours later Grayslake police were told by Cook County Sheriff’s Office that St. Antione-Browne killed herself at the hospital’s parking garage.

Authorities also said that the Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) were told that before St. Antione-Browne killed herself, she gave her granddaughter a bottle of prescription medicine and told the girl to take it all. Officials said that the girl took some of the medicine but sought medical treatment at the hospital.

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The granddaughter and the teenage boy both lived with St. Antione-Browne at the time of the house fire. Authorities said that the children are now under the care of DCFS.