Two Cook County Prosecutors Suspended For Not Approving Charges Against Arsonist Who Killed Family

By Chuck Sudo in News on Jan 16, 2013 3:00PM

Cook County State's Attorney Anita Alvarez's office announced the suspension of two prosecutors who failed to bring charges against a man who threatened to set fire to his children last September. That man, Nathaniel Beller, would later make good on his threat in December.

Alvarez said the two, a supervisor and an assistant state's attorney in her office's felony review section, were "ultimately responsible" for the deaths of Beller's girlfriend Taniya Johnson and 4-year-old daughter Nariya Beller. Beller also died from injuries sustained in the Dec. 29 fire. His 9-year-old son, Naciere, remains in critical condition at Stroger Hospital.

Beller was arrested in September after a standoff with Cicero police where he filled a bathtub with gasoline and threatened to set his children and himself on fire. Charges weren't brought against him in part because Johnson refused to sign a criminal complaint. The State's Attorney's office declined to file charges against him even after Cicero police recommended them.

Alvarez announced an internal investigation last week after the Sun-Times reported on the September incident.