Carol Stream woman found guilty of trying to poison toddler
A DuPage County judge convicted a Carol Stream woman Tuesday of aggravated battery, domestic battery and the attempted aggravated battery of her 17-month-old stepdaughter.
Handing down his ruling, Judge Brian Telander said he believed Andrea Vazquez-Hernandez knew mixing nail polish remover into the toddler's sippy cup could cause the child great bodily harm.
Prosecutors argued she tried to poison her stepdaughter after a dispute with her husband and the girl's mother in which she also threatened to kill her husband.
Vazquez-Hernandez testified Tuesday, through an interpreter, that she was "out of control" and "not thinking of the consequences" when she put about an inch of nail polish remover in the girl's cup and mixed it with milk while her husband and the girl were out of the house.
At the time of her arrest, Vazquez-Hernandez told police she thought the mixture would give the child diarrhea.
Assistant State's Attorney Lee Roupas said Vazquez-Hernandez was in a rage and out to punish her husband and the girl's mother.
"At no point has she apologized," Roupas said in his closing arguments. "And she has shown no concern, whatsoever, for that child."
Defense attorney Neil Levine continued his argument that the aggravated battery and domestic battery charges, in which the defendant uses force or causes the ingestion of a toxic substance, should not stand because the girl spit out the tainted milk before swallowing.
Levine also argued the attempted aggravated battery charge should not stand because Vazquez-Hernandez told police she thought the child only would get diarrhea.
When the trial began in May, the girl's father, Robert Clark, testified he took his 6-year-old son and the girl to get ice cream on May 29, 2016, after a particularly ugly dispute in which Vazquez-Hernandez threw her shoes and threatened to kill him.
After returning home, Clark testified, he retrieved the sippy cup his daughter had used throughout the day and gave it to her.
"She took a sip, spit it out and threw it on the floor," he testified on the trial's first day. "About 20 minutes later she pointed to the kitchen and I went and got her the bottle again and she did the exact same thing."
Clark said he checked the expiration date on the milk and then inspected the cup.
"As soon as I took the lid off, I smelled nail polish remover clear as day," he said. "It was pungent. It was really strong."
He testified he then took the girl to the hospital, where the drink was inspected and the girl was examined and released, uninjured.
Vazquez-Hernandez has been held on $250,000 bail since her arrest and faces at least four to 15 years in prison, possibly more, depending on whether Telander feels the charges are eligible for extended term sentencing. The next court date, for post-trial motions and setting of a sentencing date, is scheduled for 9 a.m. Aug. 9.
According to the DuPage County sheriff department's website, the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement department also has a hold on Vazquez-Hernandez.