A plea for mercy from a Schaumburg mom who admitted feeding her severely disabled daughter a fatal overdose of prescription drugs, then attempting to take her own life, did not sway a suburban judge.
Cook County Judge Joel Greenblatt on Wednesday sentenced Bonnie Liltz to four years in prison. Defense attorneys had sought and prosecutors recommended she receive four years of probation and no prison time.
Held upright by defense attorney William Beattie, Liltz, 56, sobbed upon hearing the sentence, while more than a dozen of her friends and family members sat in stunned silence.
Originally charged with first-degree murder, Liltz pleaded guilty last week to an amended charge of involuntary manslaughter in the 2015 death of her 28-year-old daughter, Courtney, who had cerebral palsy, could not walk or talk — save for the word “mama” — and required 24-hour care.
Rejecting prosecutors’ recommendation, Greenblatt indicated his reluctance to “impose probation for a killing, involuntary or otherwise.”
“Life is precious. Even a life that is disabled. Even a life that is profoundly disabled,” he said. “Your daughter, Courtney Liltz, was innocent and vulnerable and fragile. Her life was fragile. All life is fragile.”
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