An as-yet unidentified man is being held in an investigation into the hit-and-run death of the mother of his two children Friday in Country Club Hills, police said. A release from the Steger Police Department said officers responded to multiple reports Friday at 7:20 p.m. that a man was beating up a child in a vehicle stopped in the 3400 block of Sangamon Street in Steger. The release said that when police got there, the man ran away, leaving in the car two children, a 3-year-old and a 9-month-old, with the older child showing obvious injuries to her face and head. Both the 3-year-old and the 9-month-old were taken to St. James Hospital in Chicago Heights, where the older child was determined to be in stable condition, according to police. The release said she is expected to recover from her injuries. Police said the children's father was found shortly after he ran from the car and was arrested. The release said investigators soon learned the man was also wanted in the

hit-and-run death of the children's mother, which had taken place moments before. Police have not named the man, but the Cook County Medical Examiner's Office identified the dead woman as Erica Ford, 30, of Matteson. Ford was killed Friday evening in the 4700 block of West 189th Street in Country Club Hills. The medical examiner's office said Saturday that an autopsy revealed Ford had died from multiple injuries after being hit by a car and ruled the death a homicide. It was not immediately clear whether the man had been charged with a crime in Ford's death. Neither Country Club Hills nor Steger police immediately responded to requests seeking more information. The release from Steger police did say, however, that the man will face charges in the child's battery. The Department of Children and Family Services responded to the hospital, according to police, and has taken custody of both children. Steger police said they turned the man over to Country Club Hills police in connection with the investigation into Ford's death. see video below