After Berwyn Boy's Death, Police Detail Visits to Family Home

Police visited home for "exterior blight" and unfounded meth lab call, found strong smell of "dog waste."

Berwyn Mom Charged After Son's Death

Investigators find hundreds of animals cramped inside filthy home.

A 49-year-old Berwyn woman has been charged with criminal abuse and neglect after authorities found her 14-year-old son unconscious on the lawn outside the family's home last week, Chicago Tribune reports. The boy, Matthew Degner, was later pronounced dead at nearby MacNeal Hospital. An autopsy determined he died of natural causes related to bronchopneumonia, according to various media reports. A Sept. 9 story in My Suburban Life quotes a neighbor who says the teen "was mentally handicapped and unable to care for himself." According to the Tribune, authorities searched inside the home in the 2800 block of South Lombard Avenue Thursday and found it littered with feces and squalor. They also "found more than 100 cats, nearly as many birds, …

• Photos (1)