Kejuan Davis was a welcome sight many mornings at Austin's In the Cut barbershop. The 2-year-old would run down the stairs from his apartment to help open the shop and turn on the lights before settling into a chair to play video games.

Employees and customers were devastated Thursday by the news that the toddler's mother was charged in his death, two days after the boy ingested her methadone prescription, police say.

"We are heartbroken," shop owner Terrance Stanley said. "This is just tragic."

Lakesha Williams, 35, of the 5200 block of West Chicago Avenue, was charged with one felony count of involuntary manslaughter and one count of endangering a child. Her son died Wednesday afternoon at Children's Memorial Hospital.

Police say Williams found Kejuan on the kitchen counter in their home at about 8:30 p.m. Tuesday, lying near an open bottle of liquid methadone, a drug used to treat heroin addiction. Williams, who was convicted of heroin possession three years ago, told the boy's father that it appeared their son had ingested the drug, then she left the apartment, Officer Tom Polick said.

"She said she was going to a clinic to obtain more methadone," Polick said. "She left the father to deal with the boy."

His father called 911, and the boy was still breathing when officials arrived, police said. Initially, the boy was taken to West Suburban Medical Center in Oak Park and later transferred to Children's Memorial, police said.

The boy's autopsy was completed Thursday, but toxicology reports are pending, according to the medical examiner's office. The results could take as long as six weeks.

Developed as a painkiller, methadone is used to treat heroin addiction by blocking withdrawal symptoms, according to information on the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's Web site. It is available only by prescription.

An overdose can cause serious side effects, including blurred vision, dizziness, slowed or stopped breathing and dangerous changes in heartbeat, according to the FDA.

The Department of Children and Family Services is investigating allegations of death by neglect, spokesman Kendall Marlowe said. This is not the first time the family has been investigated. "We had prior indicated allegations of abuse and neglect in this family," he said.

Other allegations arose in 1995 and 1997, and the department provided supportive services to the family between 1995 and 1999, he said. He noted that those problems occurred before the boy was born. There are no other children in the couple's care, he said.

Williams was convicted of drug possession in 1996 and served a month in jail for violating her probation. In 2004, Williams pleaded guilty to possession of more than 15 grams of heroin and completed 2 years of probation.

Now, she faces 2 to 5 years on the first felony count, said Andy Conklin, state's attorney's office spokesman. She is due in Bond Court Friday, he said.

Stanley, the barbershop owner, said he would often baby-sit the boy while the father was at work.

Employees and customers at the barbershop were grieving the toddler's death Thursday and planned to make matching T-shirts with his photograph for the funeral.

"He had a lot of energy, and he was a smart kid," Stanley said. "Everyone knew him in the barbershop. We stayed up all night just praying and talking about him."

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