Is Probation Enough for Mom Who Fed Disabled Daughter Lethal Pills? (UPDATED)

What goes through the mind of a single mom who realizes she is becoming unable to care for a severely disabled child, a child who can't take care of herself?

What kind of toll does that take on a mother?

And to what lengths would a parent go to stop her daughter's—and her own—suffering?

Those are some of the questions surrounding the case of Bonnie Liltz, the Schaumburg mother accused of overdosing her 28-year-old daughter who suffered from cerebral palsy on a lethal dose of pills.

Originally, Liltz, 56, of Schaumburg, had been charged with first-degree murder in the 2015 case, and she pleaded not guilty. On Tuesday, Liltz accepted a deal from prosecutors to change her plea to guilty for the lesser charge of involuntary manslaughter but to do so without knowing if she would receive the minimum—probation—or maximum sentence—14 years in prison—for such an admission, according to the Chicago Tribune.

Liltz's sentencing was scheduled for Wednesday, May 11, but the judge said he won't announce his decision until next week, the Tribune reported Wednesday. Prosecutors recommended Wednesday that Liltz receive four years probation, the Tribune added.

Does that sentence properly punish the crime while still showing mercy for Liltz? Or should she receive jail time?

In her first public statement since being charged, Liltz told the court Wednesday she wished she "could turn back the clock" and that she never felt burdened by taking care of her daughter, who she adopted when Courtney was 5.

"I felt the only place she would be safe would be in heaven with me," Liltz said, attempting to explain her fatal actions, according to the Tribune.

'I Can't Leave My Daughter Behind'

In May 2015, Liltz fed the contents of drug capsules into her daughter Courtney's feeding tube, the Tribune stated. Liltz then took some of the same pills herself and washed them down with a glass of wine as part of a suicide attempt, NBC 5 Chicago reports.

"I am so sorry to put you all through this but I can't leave my daughter behind," Liltz wrote in a note left at the scene, according to the Tribune.

"I am having difficulty breathing now," Liltz continued in the note, according to NBC 5 Chicago. "If I go first, what will happen to her? I don't want her to live in an institution for the rest of her life. She is my life."

Both women were rushed to the hospital. Doctors were able to revive Liltz but not Courtney.

'There's No Reason for Murdering a Child'

Supporters told the court Tuesday and on other occasions that despite her actions, Liltz was a loving, caring mother overwhelmed by not only caring for her daughter but also dealing with her own health issues. Liltz is a two-time cancer survivor and suffered from bowel issues stemming from ovarian cancer she was diagnosed with when she was 19, NBC 5 reports.

Courtney's cerebral palsy required her to need 24-hour care, and the disease also made her incapable of speaking. According to Liltz's sister, Susan, finding outside help for Courtney's care wasn't always a viable option. Courtney stayed briefly in a private facility in 2012 after Liltz needed to be hospitalized and received deplorable treatment, Susan Liltz told the Tribune:

"She was filthy, her clothes were filthy, she had diaper rash. It broke Bonnie's heart to see Courtney like that."

While advocates for individuals with disabilities, such as Tony Paulauski, executive director for The Arc of Illinois, could sympathize with Liltz's hardships, he says those circumstances—no matter how difficult—never make it acceptable to take a life, something doubly true in the case Courtney, a woman who literally could not speak for herself.

"There's no reason for murdering a child," Paulauski told the Tribune in a June 2015 interview. "There are always other options."

More via the Chicago Tribune and NBC Chicago

PHOTO: Bonnie (right) and Courtney Liltz (Bonnie Liltz | Facebook)

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