Melissa Calusinski Decision Delayed

WAUKEGAN, IL - A decision on whether or not former daycare worker Melissa Calusinski will get a new trial has been delayed.

Lake County Judge Daniel Shanes was expected to decide on Friday if Calusinski’s 2011 first degree murder conviction in connection with the death of a 16-month-old Deerfield boy at a daycare in Lincolnshire will stand or be vacated. But the hearing is now set for Friday, Sept. 30 at 10:30 a.m., according to a Calusinski family member.

Calusinski, of Carpenterville, has been in custody since 2009, when she was charged with murder in the death of Benjamin Kingan. She was convicted in Shanes’ court in 2011, but the matter has resurfaced through a post-conviction petition after a set of X-rays surfaced that a defense team led by Kathleen Zellner contends are new and prove Kingan did not have a skull fracture at the time of his death.

Prosecutors say the X-rays are the same as the ones presented at the original trial, just brightened.

During the original trial, prosecutors based their case on the existence of a skull fracture and accused Calusinski of banging the toddler’s head against the floor in a fit of rage.

Calusinski confessed to the crime after a lengthy interrogation by investigators in 2009, but has since claimed the confession was coerced.

Also on Patch: Protesters Call For Release of Melissa Calusinski

If Shanes rules on Sept. 30 that the conviction is overturned, prosecutors will have to decide whether or not to re-try her. The defense would likely ask for her release from prison.