The teenage boy who was shot in the head before a fire at his home in Grayslake and died on Saturday has been identified by the Cook County Medical Examiner’s Office.
Grayslake police said that at 3:30 p.m. on Saturday they were notified that the 17-year-old boy, identified as Zackary Bollam, had died at Loyola University Medical Center in Maywood. The body was transported to the Cook County Medical Examiner’s Office in Chicago where an autopsy was performed on Sunday, authorities said.
Zackary was rescued by three police officers from a fire that was started at his home last Tuesday August 22 at around 12:35 a.m. in the 400 block of Normandy Lane in Grayslake.
Police officers arrived on the scene first and reportedly could hear the teenage boy screaming for help from inside the house that was on fire. Three police officers helped rescue Zackary and brought him out the front door when firefighters were arriving, officials said. The fire was knocked down by about 1:20 a.m..
All three police officers and the boy were transported by ambulance to Advocate Condell Hospital in Libertyville. All three police officers have since been released from the hospital. Zackary was then transferred to Loyola University Medical Center in Maywood where he died on Saturday.
It was learned later that the boy was shot in the head before the fire started. A .38-caliber pistol was recovered from the house later that morning on the day of the fire, police said.
Investigators took several statements from witnesses and the fire victims which led them to the boy’s 65-year-old grandmother, Deborah St. Antione-Browne, who also lived in the house.
Last Thursday afternoon investigators interviewed St. Antione-Browne at Loyola University Medical Center and obtained statements, fingerprints, and DNA.
Two hours after that 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) was 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.
The granddaughter and Zackary both lived with St. Antione-Browne at the time of the house fire. Authorities said that the granddaughter is under DCFS care.
“With many interviews to be conducted and a large amount of evidence to process, this case remains open. No additional suspects are being sought in this case,” Grayslake police said in a statement to the media.