Attorney: Round Lake man shoved Little City teens in self-defense

When David Sutton took a job at Little City, he didn't abandon his right to defend himself, his defense attorney said Wednesday during opening statements in Sutton's trial on charges he struck two autistic teens at the Palatine facility in 2015.

Robert Deters said a teenage resident of Little City, which assists children and adults with developmental and intellectual disabilities, became worked up and acted out physically. Sutton, of Round Lake, restrained the teen, then 16, by pushing him against a wall, said Deters.

Sutton is also charged with striking a 14-year-old boy.

"This case is difficult. Our sympathies will be with these young people," said Deters, who insisted Sutton used only "the force he's lawfully entitled to use to protect himself."

Prosecutors presented jurors a different version of the events. They say Sutton struck the boys, put the 16-year-old into a chokehold and slammed him against a wall after an altercation that occurred the afternoon of Sept. 27, 2015.

Little City placed Sutton, then a life services worker, on administrative leave and fired him a week later.

The mother of the older teen, now 18, testified her son - whom she described as a "big Teddy bear" and "the happiest kid in the world" - is nonverbal. The teen, who currently functions at the level of a 2½-year-old, began showing signs of aggressive behavior by age 12 when his schedule was disrupted, she said.

"He was just in his own world," said the woman,

Under direct examination from Cook County assistant state's attorney Karen Crothers, the woman testified about an occasion on Nov. 15, 2014, 10 months before the incident with her son, when she observed Sutton shove another teenage male resident out of the group home's kitchen and "slam the door in his face." When another teenage boy, whom the woman described as happy and curious, stood too close to her, she claimed Sutton became angry and shoved him through a door. On the other side of the door, the woman testified, she heard the boy crying and Sutton yelling, as well as scuffling and thumping.

The woman acknowledged she did not see what happened between them.

"To be honest, I was afraid to look," said the woman, who emailed Little City administrators about what she experienced.

Earlier, administrator Theresa Moran testified to numerous instances when the autistic teen was physically aggressive, damaged property, injured himself or left a designated area without permission.

Testimony continues Thursday.