Mom Who Killed Disabled Daughter Loses Appeal To Drop 4-Year Sentence

A Schaumburg woman who was convicted of killing her disabled daughter with a lethal dose of medication might need to go back to prison despite her health issues that her lawyers say could cause complications behind bars. Bonnie Liltz had been appealing her four-year prison sentence since being convicted in May of last year. But an Illinois appeals court rejected her request earlier this month, saying the judge in the case was within his rights to hand down the sentence he did, despite Liltz's attorneys and prosecutors agreeing that probation was the best punitive option, the Daily Herald reports.

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Bonnie Liltz was convicted in May of last year in connection with the 2015 death of her 28-year-old daughter, Courtney, who needed 24-hour care because she suffered from cerebal palsy. Liltz — who survived two bouts of cancer and suffers from stomach and digestive ailments — felt she was near death, so she decided to take her daughter's life and her own. Originally, Liltz was charged with first-degree murder in the case, but her plea deal turned that into involuntary manslaughter. Her lawyers and the prosecutors had argued that, because of her physical condition and ailments, probation was an acceptable punishment.

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Cook County Judge Joel Greenblatt disagreed and sentenced Liltz, 57, to four years in prison. But as she was getting ready to serve her term, Liltz became ill from an infection caused by her pre-existing medical issues. Likening it to "a death sentence," Liltz's legal team filed an unsuccessful appeal to keep her out of prison, and now her lawyers have to decide what to do next.

Liltz's lawyers have three options going forward, according to the Herald:

• kick the case up to the the Illinois Supreme Court and see if they'll look at it
• ask for a rehearing before the appellate court
• kick the case back to the judge who handed down the original sentence and see if he'll reconsider his ruling, given Liltz's medical conditions.

Liltz has already spent a few months behind bars, but she was released on bail in August of last year as her case winds through the appeal process, the report added.

More via the Daily Herald

Bonnie (right) and Courtney Liltz (photo via Bonnie Liltz | Facebook)

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