Hoffman Estates Mom Tried To Kill Her 2 Kids With Drugged Smoothies, Natural Gas: Prosectuors

HOFFMAN ESTATES, IL — A Hoffman Estates woman is accused by prosecutors of trying to kill her two children and herself earlier this week, using crushed-up prescription drugs, plastic bags and natural gas to do so, according to the Daily Herald. Tracy F. Johnson, 38, of the 100 block of Atlantic Avenue, is charged with two counts of attempted murder, and a judge Friday ordered her held on $2 million bail.

During Johnson's bail hearing Friday, May 12, Cook County prosecutors detailed the steps she allegedly took Tuesday, May 8, to end her life and the lives of her daughter, 5, and son, 2, the Herald reports. Johnson was wearing a medical gown at the hearing, and her public defender said she needed to be taken to a hospital after the proceedings because of an unspecified incident at the courthouse, the report added.

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Prosecutors allege Johnson's actions were motivated by anger at her son's father, who she claimed verbally abused her and didn't acknowledge her problems, the report stated. Johnson allegedly said she and her children belonged in heaven and didn't want the kids to visit the father, who didn't live with them, the report added. "Fraud" also was written on an apartment whiteboard to describe the dad, and Johnson' life insurance policy was in an envelope near it, the Herald reports.

According to prosecutors, Johnson began by allegedly giving her children smoothies that contained ground-up medications, such as the sedative benzodiazepam, the report stated. The kids, however, wouldn't drink them because of the bad taste, so she tried to put the drugs in their water, which also proved unsuccessful, the report added.

Johnson then allegedly tied plastic bags over her children's heads and turned on her stove's gas burners, the report stated. While she continued to do this, Johnson aslo texted her mother, who in turn contacted another daughter who eventually called Hoffman Estates police to ask them to do a well-being check on her sister, the report added.

When officers arrived at Johnson's apartment at about 12:45 p.m. Tuesday, they discovered the door blocked by an ottoman, and they could smell a strong odor of natural gas, the report stated. Police found Johnson and her daugther unresponsive, while the son, eyes rolled back, was staggering about the apartment, the report added.

Johnson and the kids were taken to St. Alexius Medical Center, and the children were treated and released to other family members, the report stated. Prosectors also claim this wasn't the first time Johnson, who has a master's degree in counseling, threatened self-harm, the report added.

More via the Daily Herald

UPDATED (1:08 a.m. Saturday, May 13)

Tracy F. Johnson, 38 (photo via Cook County Sheriff's Office)

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