Alsip Teen Pleads Guilty To Juvenile Drug Induced Homicide Charge

ALSIP, IL -- An Alsip woman pleaded guilty to a juvenile charge of drug induced homicide on Jan. 10. Cynthia Parker was 17 when she and her then 21-year-old boyfriend Brent Tyssen, were accused of selling a lethal dose of MDMA to Parker’s cousin. Tyssen was charged as an adult for the same offense. His case is still pending in the Leighton Criminal Courts Building. Parker is expected to be sentenced next month.

Juvenile court proceedings are not open to the public. This information comes from Terry Almanza, whose 18-year-old daughter, Sydney Schergen, died May 31, 2015 after ingesting methylenedioxy-methamphetamine purchased from her cousin and Tyssen. The Mount Greenwood teen did not respond when her father tried to wake her in the morning. Schergen was pronounced dead at Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn.

Despite being a Chicago police officer herself, Almanza said it took her 16 months to persuade CPD detectives to investigate her daughter’s death as a homicide under Illinois’s drug-induced homicide crime statute. It wasn’t until 16 months later when Parker and Tyssen, the people believed responsible for selling Schergen the MDMA, were arrested.

Parker was charged as a juvenile and released from police custody 48 hours after her arrest. Tyssen, an aspiring DJ, was charged as an adult. His $400,000 bail was later reduced to $40,000 when his family told the judge they could come up with only $1,000 to bond their son out of jail, according to court records.

“Sydney didn’t have a clue,” Almanza said. “Prior to them being arrested I just thought they didn’t know what they were doing or gave her a bad mix. Then to find out they talked about it being pure and potent, and the one being her cousin? It just devastated me.”

After getting out of jail, Parker and Tyssen were arrested again on Oct. 12, 2017, when they allegedly sold 100 hits of LSD for $750 to an undercover Orland Park police officer. Tyssen told police that Parker had asked him for a ride to the Orland Park McDonald’s so she could sell LSD to a buyer, prosecutors said during their bond hearing. This time, Parker was charged as an adult for manufacture and delivery of a controlled substance, as was Tyssen.

Tyssen’s bail was revoked. The judge set Parker’s bail at $200,000. Both young adults are currently being held in Cook County Jail. Almanza said she and her husband, John Schergen, a Chicago firefighter, were dumbfounded when they learned of the second arrest.

“They didn’t know the first time around the effects of dealing drugs could be lethal, then go out and continue to do that. It’s heartbreaking,” she said. “It’s a slap in Sydney’s face and our family's, and a slap to the judicial system.”

Only Parker’s parents and Sydney’s parents were allowed to attend Parker’s court proceedings in the basement of the Markham Courthouse, where juvenile cases are heard. According to Almanza, prior to Parker’s guilty plea, the 19-year-old woman’s attorney requested a 402 conference with Cook County Judge Donna Cooper, a procedure where the judge hears all the facts of the case and then makes a recommendation for possible sentencing.

Almanza went to court Jan. 10 expecting a regular status hearing, when she learned that Parker had planned to plead guilty.

“I could see the judge’s demeanor had changed,” Almanza said. “She acknowledged us in court which she has never done before.”

The probation department still has to submit a report and victim impact statements heard before the judge makes a final decision on Parker's sentence. Still, Almanza says she is struggling with the thought of Parker getting a slap on the wrist for her role in Sydney's death, although she admits knowing that her daughter experimented with drugs. Since Sydney died, Almanzo has become a vocal advocate for making dealers accountable when they drugs the deliver cause fatal overdoses. She runs a private Facebook group to help other families find justice for loved ones who died from lethal overdoses.

“My daughter wasn’t an addict, she had just graduated from high school," Almanza said. "She had signed up to play volleyball at Moraine Valley Community College. Sydney was an athlete and beautiful girl, who had a family that loved her so much.”

In addition to his pending drug induced homicide case, Tyssen is appearing with his former girlfriend Parker on the Class X felony drug charge they picked up in the fall in Orland Park. Their next court appearance is Jan. 23 in Bridgeview. If convicted, Parker and Tyssen each face a minimum-mandatory sentence of six years in the Illinois Department of Corrections.