2026 IL App (1st) 251155-U
No. 1-25-1155
Order filed January 21, 2026
THIRD DIVISION
NOTICE: This order was filed under Supreme Court Rule 23 and is not precedent except in the limited circumstances allowed under Rule 23(e)(1).
IN THE APPELLATE COURT OF ILLINOIS FIRST JUDICIAL DISTRICT
EVA BAILEY, through her mother Arturia Edwards, and ) Appeal from the ARTURIA EDWARDS, ) Circuit Court of ) Cook County Plaintiffs-Appellants, ) ) v. ) No. 25 L 2387 ) THE CITY OF CHICAGO, ) Honorable ) Michael F. Otto, Defendant-Appellee. ) Judge Presiding.
PRESIDING JUSTICE MARTIN delivered the judgment of the court. Justices Rochford and Reyes concurred in the judgment.
ORDER
¶1 Held: The trial court did not err when it denied leave to file an amended complaint.
¶2 At issue is whether the trial court abused its discretion in denying leave to amend a
complaint to add claims for negligent infliction of emotional distress allegedly caused by the City
of Chicago’s (City) failure to assist a mother in locating her missing daughter. The trial court
determined it would be futile to allow such an amendment as the claims would be barred by section
4-102 of the Local Governmental and Governmental Employees Tort Immunity Act (Tort No. 1-25-1155
Immunity Act) (745 ILCS 10/4-102 (West 2024)), which provides immunity to local public entities
“for failure to provide adequate police protection or service.” For the reasons that follow, we find
the trial court did not abuse its discretion and therefore affirm. 1
¶3 I. BACKGROUND
¶4 On December 11, 2023, nine-year-old Eva Bailey was reported missing by her mother
Arturia Edwards. Edwards was to pick Eva up at the end of the school day at a designated meeting
place. After waiting approximately fifteen minutes for Eva to arrive, Edwards went to the daycare
center that was responsible for Eva’s after-school transportation. There, a staff member was unable
to provide Edwards with any information concerning Eva’s whereabouts.
¶5 At approximately 4:10 p.m., Edwards dialed 911 and reported that her daughter was
missing. She requested that Chicago police issue an Amber Alert. The police dispatcher instructed
Edwards to remain at the daycare to await the arrival of police to assist her. After waiting ten
minutes, Edwards called 911 again and inquired why the police had not yet arrived.
¶6 No Chicago police met with Edwards at the daycare and no Amber Alert was issued.
Fortunately, police officers from the Oak Lawn Police Department found Eva after a concerned
resident reported a child knocking on their door and asking to use the phone to call her mother.
Mother and daughter were reunited approximately two hours after Eva was first reported missing.
¶7 On February 19, 2025, Edwards filed a complaint in the circuit court of Cook County
against the City.2 Edwards alleged that the City’s failure to assist in locating Eva and not issuing
an Amber Alert constituted a breach of the duty of care owed to citizens of Chicago. She alleged
1 In adherence with the requirements of Illinois Supreme Court Rule 352(a) (eff. July 1, 2018), this appeal has been resolved without oral argument upon entry of a separate written order. 2 The Chicago Police Department and the Office of Emergency Management Services were dismissed as defendants on the ground that they were “not suitable separate entities from the City of Chicago.” 2 No. 1-25-1155
that this breach proximately caused Eva to suffer emotional distress and mental anguish; and
proximately caused Edwards to suffer emotional distress and undue hardship.
¶8 On April 14, 2025, the City filed a combined motion to dismiss the complaint pursuant to
section 2-619.1 of the Code of Civil Procedure (Code) (735 ILCS 5/2-619.1 (West 2024)). This
section of the Code allows a movant to combine motions to dismiss under sections 2-615 (735
ILCS 5/2-615 (West 2024)) and 2-619 (735 ILCS 5/2-619 (West 2024)).
¶9 The City argued that dismissal was appropriate under section 2-615 on the ground that the
allegations in the complaint were conclusory and failed to state a cause action on which relief
could be granted. The City pointed out that “emotional distress,” in and of itself, is not a cause of
action. According to the City, Edwards appeared to be seeking relief under a theory of negligent
infliction of emotional distress but failed to plead sufficient facts to state such a cause of action.
The City also argued that Edwards failed to allege sufficient facts that would have supported the
issuance of an Amber Alert.
¶ 10 The City sought dismissal pursuant to section 2-619(a)(9) on the basis that the claims in
the complaint arose out of allegations of inadequate police services for which the City was immune
from liability under section 4-102 of the Tort Immunity Act. In addition, the City pointed out that
the incident occurred on December 11, 2023, and that Edwards filed her complaint on February
19, 2025. The City argued that the complaint should be dismissed under section 2-619(a)(5) on the
ground that the claims were time barred by the one-year statute of limitations found in section 8-
101(a) of the Tort Immunity Act (745 ILCS 10/8-101(a) (West 2024)).
¶ 11 In response, Edwards asserted that her claims were not barred, as she was not suing the
City “to provide police protection,” but rather “for breach of their own stated duty which is to
serve and protect the citizens of Chicago.” Edwards further contended that her claims were not
3 No. 1-25-1155
time barred, as she was not only pursuing damages “stemming from negligent infliction of
emotional distress,” but also for “loss of quality of life and undue hardship.” Edwards sought leave
to amend her complaint to add claims for negligent infliction of emotional distress and to set “forth
the factual support regarding this cause of action.” The City countered that granting Edwards leave
to amend her complaint to add these claims would be futile as the claims would be barred by
section 4-102 of the Tort Immunity Act.
¶ 12 On May 21, 2025, the trial court entered an order granting the City’s motion to dismiss
Edwards’ complaint with prejudice. The court dismissed the complaint pursuant to section 2-
619(a)(9), on the grounds that the claims in the complaint were barred by section 4-102 of the Tort
Immunity Act. The court also determined that the claims were time barred by the one-year statute
of limitations found in section 8-101(a) of the Tort Immunity Act. The court denied Edwards leave
to amend her complaint to add claims for negligent infliction of emotional distress, finding that
granting such an amendment would be futile, as the claims would be barred by section 4-102 of
the Tort Immunity Act. This timely appeal by Edwards followed.
¶ 13 II. ANALYSIS
¶ 14 On appeal, Edwards argues that the trial court erred in denying her leave to amend her
complaint to add claims for negligent infliction of emotional distress. The trial court dismissed the
complaint pursuant to section 2-619(a)(9) of the Code and denied leave to amend, finding that
granting such an amendment would be futile.
¶ 15 Section 2-619(a)(9) provides for dismissal of a pleading if “the claim asserted against
Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI
2026 IL App (1st) 251155-U
No. 1-25-1155
Order filed January 21, 2026
THIRD DIVISION
NOTICE: This order was filed under Supreme Court Rule 23 and is not precedent except in the limited circumstances allowed under Rule 23(e)(1).
IN THE APPELLATE COURT OF ILLINOIS FIRST JUDICIAL DISTRICT
EVA BAILEY, through her mother Arturia Edwards, and ) Appeal from the ARTURIA EDWARDS, ) Circuit Court of ) Cook County Plaintiffs-Appellants, ) ) v. ) No. 25 L 2387 ) THE CITY OF CHICAGO, ) Honorable ) Michael F. Otto, Defendant-Appellee. ) Judge Presiding.
PRESIDING JUSTICE MARTIN delivered the judgment of the court. Justices Rochford and Reyes concurred in the judgment.
ORDER
¶1 Held: The trial court did not err when it denied leave to file an amended complaint.
¶2 At issue is whether the trial court abused its discretion in denying leave to amend a
complaint to add claims for negligent infliction of emotional distress allegedly caused by the City
of Chicago’s (City) failure to assist a mother in locating her missing daughter. The trial court
determined it would be futile to allow such an amendment as the claims would be barred by section
4-102 of the Local Governmental and Governmental Employees Tort Immunity Act (Tort No. 1-25-1155
Immunity Act) (745 ILCS 10/4-102 (West 2024)), which provides immunity to local public entities
“for failure to provide adequate police protection or service.” For the reasons that follow, we find
the trial court did not abuse its discretion and therefore affirm. 1
¶3 I. BACKGROUND
¶4 On December 11, 2023, nine-year-old Eva Bailey was reported missing by her mother
Arturia Edwards. Edwards was to pick Eva up at the end of the school day at a designated meeting
place. After waiting approximately fifteen minutes for Eva to arrive, Edwards went to the daycare
center that was responsible for Eva’s after-school transportation. There, a staff member was unable
to provide Edwards with any information concerning Eva’s whereabouts.
¶5 At approximately 4:10 p.m., Edwards dialed 911 and reported that her daughter was
missing. She requested that Chicago police issue an Amber Alert. The police dispatcher instructed
Edwards to remain at the daycare to await the arrival of police to assist her. After waiting ten
minutes, Edwards called 911 again and inquired why the police had not yet arrived.
¶6 No Chicago police met with Edwards at the daycare and no Amber Alert was issued.
Fortunately, police officers from the Oak Lawn Police Department found Eva after a concerned
resident reported a child knocking on their door and asking to use the phone to call her mother.
Mother and daughter were reunited approximately two hours after Eva was first reported missing.
¶7 On February 19, 2025, Edwards filed a complaint in the circuit court of Cook County
against the City.2 Edwards alleged that the City’s failure to assist in locating Eva and not issuing
an Amber Alert constituted a breach of the duty of care owed to citizens of Chicago. She alleged
1 In adherence with the requirements of Illinois Supreme Court Rule 352(a) (eff. July 1, 2018), this appeal has been resolved without oral argument upon entry of a separate written order. 2 The Chicago Police Department and the Office of Emergency Management Services were dismissed as defendants on the ground that they were “not suitable separate entities from the City of Chicago.” 2 No. 1-25-1155
that this breach proximately caused Eva to suffer emotional distress and mental anguish; and
proximately caused Edwards to suffer emotional distress and undue hardship.
¶8 On April 14, 2025, the City filed a combined motion to dismiss the complaint pursuant to
section 2-619.1 of the Code of Civil Procedure (Code) (735 ILCS 5/2-619.1 (West 2024)). This
section of the Code allows a movant to combine motions to dismiss under sections 2-615 (735
ILCS 5/2-615 (West 2024)) and 2-619 (735 ILCS 5/2-619 (West 2024)).
¶9 The City argued that dismissal was appropriate under section 2-615 on the ground that the
allegations in the complaint were conclusory and failed to state a cause action on which relief
could be granted. The City pointed out that “emotional distress,” in and of itself, is not a cause of
action. According to the City, Edwards appeared to be seeking relief under a theory of negligent
infliction of emotional distress but failed to plead sufficient facts to state such a cause of action.
The City also argued that Edwards failed to allege sufficient facts that would have supported the
issuance of an Amber Alert.
¶ 10 The City sought dismissal pursuant to section 2-619(a)(9) on the basis that the claims in
the complaint arose out of allegations of inadequate police services for which the City was immune
from liability under section 4-102 of the Tort Immunity Act. In addition, the City pointed out that
the incident occurred on December 11, 2023, and that Edwards filed her complaint on February
19, 2025. The City argued that the complaint should be dismissed under section 2-619(a)(5) on the
ground that the claims were time barred by the one-year statute of limitations found in section 8-
101(a) of the Tort Immunity Act (745 ILCS 10/8-101(a) (West 2024)).
¶ 11 In response, Edwards asserted that her claims were not barred, as she was not suing the
City “to provide police protection,” but rather “for breach of their own stated duty which is to
serve and protect the citizens of Chicago.” Edwards further contended that her claims were not
3 No. 1-25-1155
time barred, as she was not only pursuing damages “stemming from negligent infliction of
emotional distress,” but also for “loss of quality of life and undue hardship.” Edwards sought leave
to amend her complaint to add claims for negligent infliction of emotional distress and to set “forth
the factual support regarding this cause of action.” The City countered that granting Edwards leave
to amend her complaint to add these claims would be futile as the claims would be barred by
section 4-102 of the Tort Immunity Act.
¶ 12 On May 21, 2025, the trial court entered an order granting the City’s motion to dismiss
Edwards’ complaint with prejudice. The court dismissed the complaint pursuant to section 2-
619(a)(9), on the grounds that the claims in the complaint were barred by section 4-102 of the Tort
Immunity Act. The court also determined that the claims were time barred by the one-year statute
of limitations found in section 8-101(a) of the Tort Immunity Act. The court denied Edwards leave
to amend her complaint to add claims for negligent infliction of emotional distress, finding that
granting such an amendment would be futile, as the claims would be barred by section 4-102 of
the Tort Immunity Act. This timely appeal by Edwards followed.
¶ 13 II. ANALYSIS
¶ 14 On appeal, Edwards argues that the trial court erred in denying her leave to amend her
complaint to add claims for negligent infliction of emotional distress. The trial court dismissed the
complaint pursuant to section 2-619(a)(9) of the Code and denied leave to amend, finding that
granting such an amendment would be futile.
¶ 15 Section 2-619(a)(9) provides for dismissal of a pleading if “the claim asserted against
defendant is barred by other affirmative matter avoiding the legal effect of or defeating the claim.”
735 ILCS 5/2-619 (West 2024). “Thus, the moving party admits the legal sufficiency of the
complaint but asserts an affirmative defense or other matter that avoids or defeats the claim.” Brock
4 No. 1-25-1155
v. Anderson Road Ass’n, 287 Ill. App. 3d 16, 21 (1997). “The immunity granted by the Tort
Immunity Act is an affirmative matter properly raised in a section 2-619(a)(9) motion to dismiss.”
Salvi v. Village of Lake Zurich, 2016 IL App (2d) 150249, ¶ 25.
¶ 16 “Illinois has a liberal policy regarding amendments to pleadings.” Rosenbaum v. Samler,
2025 IL App (1st) 240039, ¶ 76. However, “[t]he right to amend a pleading is not absolute but
rather is a matter within the trial court’s discretion.” Hiatt v. Illinois Tool Works, 2018 IL App (2d)
170554, ¶ 36. “Accordingly, we will not reverse the trial court’s decision absent an abuse of that
discretion.” Id. A trial court abuses its discretion only when its “decision is arbitrary, fanciful, or
unreasonable or where no reasonable person would take the view adopted by the trial court.”
Seymour v. Collins, 2015 IL 118432, ¶ 41.
¶ 17 In reviewing a trial court’s decision to deny amendment to a pleading, we generally
consider the four factors adopted by our supreme court in Loyola Academy v. S & S Roof
Maintenance, Inc., 146 Ill. 2d 263, 273 (1992). These factors are: (1) whether the proposed
amendment would cure any defects in the pleading, (2) whether the opposing party would be
prejudiced or unfairly surprised by the amendment, (3) whether the amendment is timely, and (4)
whether the party seeking to amend had previous opportunities to do so. Id.
¶ 18 However, if it would be futile to grant a party leave to amend, we need not consider the
Loyola Academy factors. Under such circumstances, “we may begin and end our analysis with the
observation that it is never an abuse of discretion to deny leave to amend when the proposed
amendment would be futile.” Malacina v. Cook County Sheriff’s Merit Board, 2021 IL App (1st)
191893, ¶ 40. “Where it is apparent even after amendment that no cause of action can be stated,
leave to amend should be denied.” Hayes Mechanical, Inc. v. First Industrial, L.P., 351 Ill. App.
3d 1, 7 (2004).
5 No. 1-25-1155
¶ 19 In this case, the trial court determined that the immunity provided by section 4-102 was an
affirmative matter that rendered it futile to grant Edwards leave to amend her complaint. This
section of the Tort Immunity Act provides in relevant part:
“Neither a local public entity nor a public employee is liable for failure to establish a police
department or otherwise provide police protection service or, if police protection service is
provided, for failure to provide adequate police protection or service.” 745 ILCS 10/4-102
(West 2024).
¶ 20 Section 4-102 “immunizes local public entities and their employees for both negligent and
willful and wanton conduct in failing to protect or in providing inadequate police protection
services.” Andrade v. City of Kankakee, 2023 IL App (3d) 230035, ¶ 16. Our court has held that
section 4-102 is implicated where the City of Chicago failed to dispatch police in response to a
911 call. Carolan v. City of Chicago, 2018 IL App (1st) 170205, ¶ 17. Moreover, closer to the facts
of this case, our court has determined that “searching for a missing person” is a “police service”
“covered by section 4-102.” Platacis v. Village of Streamwood, 224 Ill. App. 3d 336, 340-41
(1991). All of this leads us to conclude that it would have been futile for the trial court to grant
Edwards leave to amend her complaint based on the City’s failure to assist in locating Eva and not
issuing an Amber Alert – since the causes of action would have been barred by section 4-102.
¶ 21 Edwards argues for the first time on appeal that the trial court should have allowed her to
amend her complaint to add claims for intentional infliction of emotional distress and present
arguments regarding the application of section 2-202 of the Tort Immunity Act (745 ILCS 10/2-
202 (West 2024)). This section of the Tort Immunity Act provides an exception for willful and
wanton conduct. See Pouk v. Village of Romeoville, 405 Ill. App. 3d 194, 196 (2010).
¶ 22 Edwards, however, failed to tender a proposed amended complaint asserting these new
6 No. 1-25-1155
causes of action and arguments to the trial court and there is no proposed amended complaint in
the record. “A party’s failure to tender a proposed amended complaint with supporting facts to the
trial court significantly diminishes this court’s ability to determine whether the proposed
amendment would have stated a viable cause of action.” Firebirds International LLC v. Zurich
American Insurance Co., 2022 IL App (1st) 210558, ¶ 43. As a result, Edwards has forfeited her
right to have this court review the trial court’s denial of her request for leave to amend to add
claims for intentional infliction of emotional distress and present arguments regarding the
application of section 2-202.
¶ 23 Moreover, even absent forfeiture, we cannot say that the trial court abused its discretion in
denying Edwards leave to amend the complaint to add arguments regarding the possible
application of section 2-202. Our court has determined that even in instances where section 2-202
is potentially applicable, it will not prevail over the more specific and comprehensive immunity
provided by section 4-102. Ries v. City of Chicago, 242 Ill. 2d 205, 220-27 (2011).
¶ 24 III. CONCLUSION
¶ 25 Accordingly, for the foregoing reasons, we find that the trial court did not err by denying
Edwards leave to amend her complaint.
¶ 26 Affirmed.