Schaumburg teen will be held until 21st birthday for hammer attack
A 16-year-old Schaumburg girl was sentenced Tuesday to 15 years in prison for brutally beating a neighbor with a hammer last year, but will spend only about the next five years in a juvenile detention facility if she stays out of trouble until her 21st birthday.
The girl, who is not being named because she was not charged as an adult, pleaded guilty to attempted murder two weeks ago in connection with the March 2010 attack on 58-year-old Rajesh Thakkar.
Under the terms of her sentence, the girl will remain in juvenile detention until February 2016, when she turns 21, as long as she behaves while in custody. If she violates those conditions, however, she would be placed in the Illinois Department of Corrections to serve a 15-year prison term.Thakkar was in court to see Cook County Judge Richard Walsh impose the sentence, and released a victim-impact statement in which he told of how the injuries he suffered in the beating left him unable to work to support his family.
#8220;If you wanted to rob me, I would gladly have given you my wallet,#8221; Thakkar wrote. #8220;If you commit a crime, you should be punished. What was my crime?#8221;
Thakkar's wife of 35 years, Gita, and his older sister were by his side anxiously awaiting the sentence. Gita let out deep sighs to keep from breaking down into tears, but she could hardly keep her composure, during the proceedings.
The girl did not make a statement in court, but her attorney, Assistant Cook County Public Defender Jerome Barrido, sought leniency, saying she had been the victim of physical and sexual abuse.
Walsh acknowledged the abuse, but said his sentence was intended to balance a hope for rehabilitation with protection of the public and justice for Thakkar.
#8220;The lust of pedophiles does too much damage to the victims, and to the victims of the victims,#8221; Walsh said. #8220;There is no way this system of justice is going to make the victim whole.#8221;
After leaving the courtroom, a solemn Thakkar didn't say much about the girl's sentence except to acknowledge that this part of his personal trials was over.
#8220;No matter how much punishment she gets, what difference is it going to make to us,#8221; Gita said. #8220;Our life is ruined. Our (lost) time won't come back.#8221;
The family took little comfort in the knowledge that the girl would be in juvenile detention for five years.
#8220;For us, the only (positive result) is that he has returned home from the hospital in a good state,#8221; Gita said.
Gita said she failed to see how the girl could be rehabilitated after committing so many crimes.
#8220;She's not going to change,#8221; she said.
Since the attack, Thakkar's impaired speech and the loss of his right eye have made it difficult for him to find employment. Gita also does not work, so the couple relies on food stamps and the help of relatives and friends to survive, while Thakkar's medical bills are covered by Medicare.
Thakkar has been promised victim's compensation, but so far nothing has materialized. Thakkar's unemployment also is about to run out.
The assault occurred just before midnight March 29, 2010 when Thakkar returned to his apartment building on Pickwick Drive in Schaumburg after a late shift at an Elgin gas station.
As he was checking his mailbox in the lobby, the girl #8212; who lived on the first floor #8212; attacked him using a hammer she'd previously placed atop the mailboxes in preparation for his return.
Police and prosecutors said robbery was the motive for the brutal beating which ultimately put Thakkar in a coma, cost him his right eye and required multiple surgeries to his brain and skull.
The girl admitted to taking Thakkar's wallet before dragging him toward a pond behind the building, prosecutors said. A third-floor neighbor, who heard a disturbance outside, reported seeing the girl standing by someone who appeared to be stumbling. The girl noticed the man watching and walked away from Thakkar as the neighbor dialed 911.
Before police and paramedics arrived, the girl's sister tried to clean up blood from the scene. Authorities said Johnson played no part in the actual attack, but charged her with obstruction of justice. She later pleaded guilty and was sentenced to four months in jail, two years probation and 120 hours of community service.
After more than a year of recovery and rehabilitation, Thakkar is almost back to normal except for the permanent loss of his right eye and lingering impairment of his ability to speak English #8212; his second language. The latter problem is standing in the way of his finding a new job similar to the one he had before.
In addition to the 16-year-old's assault on Thakkar, prosecutors also detailed two other cases to which she pleaded guilty.
One was a carjacking outside the Schaumburg Township District Library on Jan. 8, 2010. The girl and a male accomplice approached a woman as she entered her car and demanded her keys, prosecutors said. The girl shoved the woman to the ground and punched her. Wisconsin police stopped the car, in which the girl was a passenger, 10 days later.
The girl also pleaded guilty to the battery of a Schaumburg High School student on Jan. 25, 2010 as the victim exited a school bus.