Geneva women plead not guilty in mom's death

Two Geneva sisters pleaded not guilty today to charges of negligence in the death of their 84-year-old mother, whose bedsore-ravaged body was discovered lying on dingy, insect-covered sheets.

Jill and Julie Barry are scheduled turn themselves in at the Kane County Jail later today to be processed and photographed before they are released on their own recognizance.

Jill Barry, 53, and Julie Barry, 46, are charged with two counts each of criminal neglect of an elderly person in the death of their mother, Mary Virginia Barry.

The elderly woman was found April 27 in a home she shared with her daughters in the 400 block of Peyton Street, where medics said she was lying on urine-stained sheets with ants crawling over open sores on her hands, arms and feet.

Her spine also showed through other sores that ran down her back. The woman died a week later at Delnor-Community General Hospital in Geneva from complications of pneumonia, bladder cancer, dehydration and malnutrition, prosecutors have said.

Judge Allen Anderson set a $10,000 bond for the sisters, which they would have to pay if they skip court dates or violate other terms of their release.

Jill and Julie Barry declined to comment after they left the courtroom.

State's Attorney John Barsanti, who is prosecuting the case, said the women have cooperated with investigators and because they have close ties to the community, does not consider them a flight risk.

The Barry sisters said they never noticed unusual sores or smells and bathed their mother regularly, according to testimony in July at the elderly woman's inquest before a coroner's jury.

The death was later ruled a homicide and marked one of the first tests of a new task force created to investigate when an elderly person dies under suspicious circumstances.

The two women are due in court again Feb. 26, when Anderson could hear arguments on a move by Barsanti to have Jill and Julie Barry stand trial together.

If that occurs, it would be one of the first so-called dual trials in Kane County in roughly a decade.

Gary Johnson, an Aurora attorney defending the sisters, said he will not know if he will contest the motion until he reviews police and other reports on the case.