Woman charged with killing 93-year-old mother of ex-boyfriend

A Lawndale woman is facing a murder charge after she allegedly pushed and kicked a 93-year-old woman last summer, causing injuries that led to the woman’s death two months later.

Lashanda Stone, 37, was charged with first-degree murder and ordered held without bail Tuesday in the death of Marilyn Palmer, who was the mother of Stone’s former boyfriend.

On July 10, a granddaughter of Palmer found her laying on the floor of her Lawndale home and called 911, prosecutors said. She was taken to Mount Sinai Hospital, where she was treated for injuries to her face and throat, as well as multiple fractured ribs.

Two weeks after the alleged attack, Palmer was transferred to a rehabilitation center and then into hospice care at a family member’s home, where she died Sept. 22, prosecutors said. An autopsy determined she died from complications of blunt force injuries with heart disease as a contributing factor and her death was ruled a homicide.

Stone was taken into custody Friday in connection with Palmer’s death and allegedly made statements to detectives saying she had grabbed the older woman by the throat and pushed her to the ground before kicking her several times.

Before her death, Palmer had also identified Stone as the person who attacked her, prosecutors said.

In April, prosecutors said Stone had filed a domestic battery complaint with Chicago police against her former boyfriend, who is Palmer’s son. Stone’s public defender, Marijane Placek, said the complaint may have given Palmer and her family reason to accuse Stone in the attack.

Placek also contested any statements Stone made to detectives, saying she had been subjected to a “long interrogation” and that any statements she made may have been coerced by detectives.

Stone’s next court date was scheduled for Dec. 7.