Family: Cook County, electronic monitoring vendor enabled woman’s murder

CHICAGO - The family of a Chicago woman who was stabbed to death by her criminal estranged husband while he was wearing a court-ordered ankle monitor say Cook County and a county contractor should pay for allegedly doing nothing to stop him from killing her, even though those working within the county's electronic monitoring program knew the killer had violated the program numerous times leading up to the murder.

On Dec. 3, the family of Lacramioara Beldie filed suit in Cook County Circuit Court, accusing Cook County and electronic monitoring services vendor Track Group Inc., of Naperville, of Beldie's wrongful death.

Beldie's family is represented in the action by attorney Bradley D. Melzer, of the firm of Cronauer Law, of Sycamore.

"Some of the most dangerous criminal defendants are those who commit acts of domestic violence," Melzer said in a prepared statement, announcing the lawsuit.

"This heartbreaking case exposes critical flaws in the very systems meant to protect domestic violence survivors. Lacramioara Beldie was thrust into a position where she had to trust probation and trust GPS technology to keep her safe, despite all the red flags which should have kept her killer in jail."

Beldie was killed on Nov. 19, 2024, when her estranged husband, Constantin Beldie, stabbed her to death in "broad daylight" on West Leland Avenue in Chicago's Jefferson Park neighborhood. According to published reports, Constantin Beldie, 57, attacked his wife as she walked by him on the sidewalk, after reportedly lying in wait for her.

According to published reports, an off duty Chicago Police officer attempted to intervene, but was shot in the process. The officer was not killed.

Constantin Beldie was found dead in a car about a block from the murder scene, according to published reports.

However, according to the lawsuit, Beldie's death was an avoidable tragedy and yet another instance in which the Cook County justice system allowed a violent criminal to roam free, ultimately resulting in another person's death.

According to the complaint, Beldie had suffered years of alleged physical and emotional abuse at the hands of her husband. The complaint said this included Constantin asking his wife, "You know how easy it is to kill someone?"

According to the complaint, Beldie secured numerous orders of protection against Constantin.

Then in October 2024, Constantin was placed into Cook County's electronic GPS monitoring program, which is operated by the Cook County Adult Probation Department, under the supervision of the Office of the Cook County Chief Judge.

At the time, Judge Timothy Evans served in that role.

Electronic monitoring has served as a leading component of the push by Evans and many other prominent Illinois and Chicago Democratic politicians and activists to reform the criminal justice systems in Cook County and throughout Illinois, ostensibly to address the harms caused by so-called "systemic racism," in the name of social justice.

Particularly, such left-wing reformers have urged the reduction of the state's jail population, focusing heavily on reducing the number of people who are held in jail while they await trial on criminal charges.

Supporters of such changes have argued the burden of such pretrial incarceration falls too heavily on black and Latino populations, who often are arrested and charged with crimes at higher rates disproportionate to their share of the overall population.

Evans has particularly been among the staunchest and most vocal supporters of such reforms, touting its supposed effectiveness at both strengthening civil rights for those accused of crimes and allegedly reducing crime. He has also pushed back against claims from others in the criminal justice system that the reforms have enabled criminal defendants to essentially thumb their nose at the courts or, worse, remain free to commit violent crimes.

However, in recent weeks, even Evans was forced to admit the county's electronic monitoring program, which he championed, is in need of review, following deadly or heinous incidents committed by people Cook County judge's had refused to jail, but instead placed on electronic monitoring.

Among those was Lawrence Reed, 50, of Chicago, who is accused of intentionally assaulting and lighting on fire a woman on a CTA Blue Line train.

Another is Tommie O. Brown, 39, of Chicago, who was on electronic monitoring when he allegedly attacked a man with intellectual disabilities and pushed him onto the tracks in front of an approaching CTA train at the Harlem Blue Line station in suburban Forest Park. According to a report published by CWB Chicago, the man's life was saved when a CTA worker quickly cut power to the train, stopping it short, and others came to his aid.

In both instances, the men were in violation of their electronic monitoring programs at the time of the attacks and officials took no action to restrain their movement.

However, such failures in the system are nothing new.

According to data tracked and reported by CWB Chicago, hundreds of violent crimes, including murder, have been committed by people already in Cook County's electronic monitoring system.

In 2022, for instance, the family of Vietnam veteran Keith Cooper attempted to sue Evans and Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart after Cooper was killed during a carjacking committed by two men who were also on electronic monitoring.

And that same year, the sheriff and chief judge were also sued by the family of Shanate Guy, a woman who was shot to death by her boyfriend in a home invasion murder-suicide. The boyfriend, Dominiko Johnson, was also on electronic monitoring at the time of the murder.

That lawsuits were ultimately dismissed or withdrawn, when Evans and Dart persuaded judges that their status under the law shielded them from such liability and they had no duty under the law to prevent criminals in their custody from committing crimes.

In Beldie's case, Constantin Beldie had been arrested over charges of attempted kidnapping and aggravated domestic battery.

However, according to the complaint, in the 40 days leading up to Beldie's murder, Constantin Beldie violated court orders and the terms of the electronic monitoring program at least dozens of times, including entering "exclusion zones" set by the court around his wife's home, work place and school.

According to the complaint, Lacramioara would receive notifications by text message and calls or voicemails when such violations were detected.

However, Beldie's family said "no meaningful action" was ever taken to restrain Constantin or otherwise better secure Beldie against his encroachments.

Further, they say, on the day of the attack, Lacramioara received no notifications indicating Constantin may be nearby. However, the next day, Track Group reportedly sent a notification that Constantin had tampered with his ankle monitor - "far too late to prevent the tragedy," the family's lawyers said in a release.

The lawsuit seeks to make both the county and Track Group pay for allegedly allowing Constantin to roam free while on electronic monitoring and to ultimately attack and kill Lacramioara.

Melzer noted Track Group was awarded a $22 million, three-year contract to provide the electronic monitoring services, beginning October 2024.

Evans was replaced as Cook County's chief judge on Dec. 1 by Judge Charles Beach, who defeated him in an election in which only Cook County Circuit Court judges could vote.

Among his first acts as the county's new chief judge, Beach ordered the creation of a committee to review the county's electronic monitoring system and to recommend changes to improve the system and potentially prevent future violent crimes committed by those on electronic monitoring.

Melzer said he hopes Beldie's case will also help urge the county to reform and improve its systems.

"We're seeking justice for her family and to shine a light on the Court ordered GPS monitoring company so that reforms can be made and prevent future tragedies," Melzer said.