Shaken Baby Death: Daycare Worker Sues Romeoville, Plainfield For Wrongful Conviction

ROMEOVILLE, IL — Almost exactly a year after her conviction was overturned, former daycare worker Jennifer Del Prete is suing Romeoville police, the villages of Romeoville and Plainfield and a medical expert who testified against her in the death of a 14-month-old Plainfield baby. In a lawsuit filed Thursday, Del Prete, now 46, accuses investigators of withholding evidence and framing her in baby Isabella Zielinski's death.

Del Prete was accused of violently shaking baby Isabella while caring for the girl in 2002. The infant died 10 months later, and Del Prete was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to the minimum 20 years in prison. Del Prete claims the injuries that killed Isabella happened long before the baby arrived at the Romeoville daycare.

After nearly a decade behind bars, Del Prete was released in 2014, months after undergraduates with Northwestern's Medill Justice Project uncovered a letter written by a Romeoville detective casting doubt on a pathologist's findings that Del Prete shook baby Isabella. In the letter, Det. Ken Kroll, now a Romeoville deputy chief, said the pathologist who performed an autopsy has significant doubts that Isabella died from shaken-baby syndrome.

During a press conference on Thursday, an attorney for Del Prete said the letter was suppressed. "Her constitutional rights were violated," attorney Jon Loevy said. (For more information on this and other neighborhood stories, subscribe to Patch to receive daily newsletters and breaking news alerts.)

The letter prompted a federal judge to order Del Prete's release in 2014. Her murder conviction was overturned two years later.

Del Prete's lawsuit names Kroll, Scott McLaughlin and "unknown officers of the Romeoville police," as well as Plainfield Officer Tracy Caliendo and pediatrician Dr. Emalee Flaherty. Flaherty testified at Del Prete's 2005 trial, saying baby Isabella's brain injuries could only have been caused by violent assault.

The morning of Dec. 27, 2002, the baby's mother dropped both her children off at the Romeoville daycare center where Del Prete worked. Del Prete said it was the first day back at daycare for 3-month-0ld Isabella after the Christmas holiday. In her court filing, Del Prete says she fed Isabella her morning bottle before the infant "slept for longer than usual" in a child swing. That afternoon, Del Prete said the baby began "shaking and crying a heavy, irritated cry." After changing Isabella's diaper, Del Prete said she was preparing to give her another bottle and antibiotics she'd been prescribed for an ear infection "when she suddenly went completely limp, her eyes half open and slightly rolled back, and her breathing labored."

Del Prete said she tried to resuscitate the baby, checking her mouth to make sure she wasn't choking and patting her back to try to clear her airway, then called 911. She said she followed the 911 operator's instructions, performing CPR until McLaughlin and Kroll arrived.

The suit alleges baby Isabella suffered from chronic and acute subdural hematomas, which "indicate bleeding in the brain that is weeks old."

Del Prete claims Kroll and McLaughlin knew the medical evidence pointed away from her, but "conspired (with Flaherty) to fabricate evidence" to falsely implicate Del Prete. She also claims Caliendo, from the Plainfield Police Department, attended the baby's autopsy, was aware the pathologist doubted the shaken baby syndrome diagnosis and relayed those doubts to Kroll. Del Prete alleges Caliendo's conversation with Kroll was "improperly suppressed" and was not included in her reports on the case.

Romeoville Police Chief Mark Turvey said he could not comment beyond a press release issued by the village. That statement said village officials were made aware of Del Prete's lawsuit on Thursday and are "confident that its officers acted lawfully and appropriately and that they will be exonerated in the litigation." Officials said because the suit is still pending, they had no further comment on Del Prete's allegations.

Plainfield police did not immediately respond to a message from Patch on Friday.

Del Prete's suit claims she was deprived of years with her children, who were 7 and 15 when she went to prison. “Nothing can compensate for the tragedy we all went through, but I’m hoping that we can get some justice,” she said at a news conference. After her 2014 release, "Things were nothing like they were when I left," she said. "We had to get to know each other again ... Although we can’t get our time back that we missed, I would just like to feel like I was acknowledged.”

Will County prosecutors are appealing the judge's decision to overturn Del Prete's conviction.

Del Prete is seeking compensatory damages, attorneys' fees and punitive damages.

Image via Patch file