Trial date set for mom in daughter’s Bloomingdale slaying

A woman accused of nearly beheading her 4-year-old daughter in a grisly slaying in Bloomingdale is expected to stand trial next month.

DuPage County Judge George Bakalas on Monday set May 30 as a tentative trial date for 45-year-old Marci Webber, who faces first-degree murder charges in the November 2010 killing of her daughter Maggie.

Public Defender Jeff York said Webber likely will opt for a trial by judge rather than a jury. The proceedings would last about a day, he said.

Webber, of East Nassau, N.Y., was staying at her mother’s Bloomingdale townhouse when the victim was found in a bathtub with her throat slashed so deeply her esophagus was severed.

Prosecutors say Webber gave the girl sleeping pills before cutting her with a 4-inch folding knife and scrawling the words “divine mercy” on the wall in blood. She told investigators she killed the child to protect her from sexual predators, according to prosecutors.

Webber has pleaded not guilty and remains in the county jail on $5 million bail. Prosecutors requested a mental health evaluation for her more than a year ago, but the results haven’t been made public.