Schaumburg mom who killed disabled daughter to be freed on bail
Bonnie Liltz, the Schaumburg mom sentenced to four years in prison for the 2015 death of her severely disabled daughter, is expected to be released from prison Friday.
"Her health really is the issue here," said defense attorney Tom Glasgow, who asked that Liltz be released on bail pending an appellate review of her sentence.
The appellate court agreed to the bail, Glasgow said, adding that Liltz's father will put up the $5,000 necessary for her release Friday morning.
To get the appellate court to grant bail, the defendant must show significant health issues or a strong likelihood that the defendant will prevail upon appeal, Glasgow said.
"I think we have a strong argument," he said.
Prosecutors did not object to the bail, a Cook County state's attorney spokeswoman said.
Liltz, who has been in custody in the Logan Correctional Center, a women's prison near Lincoln, has had chronic health issues since her treatment for ovarian cancer in 1981. That treatment, which included radiation therapy, caused damage that subsequent surgeries failed to repair, according to court records.
Liltz underwent a colostomy in January and was readmitted to the hospital for dehydration a month later. Glasgow said his client's weight has dropped to 84 pounds.
"She is not getting the appropriate treatment that a person with her physical maladies deserves," Glasgow said.
Originally charged with first-degree murder, Liltz was convicted of involuntary manslaughter for feeding her 28-year-old daughter Courtney an overdose of prescription and over-the-counter drugs on May 27, 2015.
Glasgow said Liltz, who tried to kill herself as well, believed she was near death and worried about what would happen in her absence to Courtney, who had cerebral palsy, could neither walk nor talk, and required 24-hour care.
Prosecutors recommended Liltz be sentenced to four years of probation, but Cook County Judge Joel Greenblatt - saying "all life is precious ... even a life that is profoundly disabled" - sentenced her to four years in prison, which requires she serve at least 50 percent of her sentence before she is eligible for parole.