Addison mom accused of stabbing 3-year-old son unfit for trial
An Addison woman accused of stabbing her 3-year-old son in the neck has been found mentally unfit for trial.
DuPage County Judge Blanche Hill Fawell made the finding Tuesday based on a recent psychological report for 28-year-old Sameera Samreen.
Defense attorney David Camic said Samreen will receive outpatient treatment at the state-run Elgin Mental Health Center until her fitness is restored, possibly within a year. He said the court’s ruling didn’t come as a surprise.
“It’s what I expected when I raised the issue (of fitness),” Camic said
Samreen is accused of stabbing her child with a 7-inch kitchen knife on March 31, the same weekend her ex-husband remarried. Prosecutors said she also cut her own neck and wrist, then panicked and summoned help.
When police arrived, she told officers two men had broken into her home through a third-story balcony. She later confessed she was distraught and wanted to “die together” with her son, prosecutors said. A defense filing says she “did not knowingly batter the child.”
The boy, now with his paternal grandmother, survived with a 5-centimeter cut, which transected his jugular vein, prosecutors said. The defense maintains he “has not suffered any great bodily harm,” and Samreen is “generally known to be a hardworking mother,” according to court records.
Samreen is free on bond and charged with attempted murder, armed violence, aggravated battery to a child and aggravated domestic battery. If convicted, she could face a minimum 10 years in prison.
Her next court date is Nov. 28.