Illinois Child Welfare Worker Dies Months After Beating

CHICAGO, IL — Officials say an Illinois child welfare worker has died after being severely beaten last year while trying to take protective custody of a child.

Neil Skene is a spokesman for the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services. He says 59-year-old Pamela Sue Knight died Thursday morning.

Sauk Valley Media reports that the suspect, 25-year-old Andrew Sucher, is accused of kicking Knight in the head so severely that he fractured her skull in September. The attack had caused permanent brain damage and extensive physical disabilities.

Knight was attacked when she went to his parents' home in Milledgeville to take a 2-year-old boy into protective custody.

Sucher remains jailed on $275,000 bond. He's pleaded not guilty to attempted first-degree murder and other charges.

His next hearing is set for Feb. 23.

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