Father charged with murdering daughter held without bond

A man charged with murdering his 5-year-old daughter is being held without bond today, in what Cook County authorities say could be a death penalty case.

Judge Lauren Gottainer Edidin ordered Elmyr Lawson, 37, of 9205 Potter Road in unincorporated Maine Township, held without bond during a hearing at the Skokie courthouse today.

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Lawson is charged with two counts of first-degree murder for allegedly suffocating his daughter, Kae, with a towel in their home Thursday. Lawson admitted killing the child because she had messed up her toys, Cook County Sheriff Thomas Dart said Friday.

The Cook County Medical Examiner's office conducted an autopsy and declared the official cause of death as suffocation and ruled it a homicide, a spokesman said today.

In asking that Lawson be held without bond today, Assistant State's Attorney Michele Gemskie said, "It was a prolonged and agonizing way to die."

Gemskie said Lawson is eligible for the death penalty, but did not say if they would seek it.

Lawson's attorney, Richard Kling, said his client has a history of mental problems and was on a "plethora of medications," some of which were being taken properly and some not.

About a dozen friends and family members of Lawson attended the hearing. His next court date is March 11.

Kling asked the judge if his client could get additional hospital care at the Cook County jail and the judge agreed.

Dart described the killing as a "a willful act," during a press conference Friday night.

The child, who was in kindergarten, was found by her mom at about 10:20 p.m. Thursday. Her mother had expected a ride home from work from her husband, who had been babysitting the girl. When Lawson did not arrive at around 8 p.m., she called home several times, but got no answer.

When she finally arrived home, she found her daughter on the ground, but her husband was not at home. The child was taken to Lutheran General Hospital in Park Ridge, where she was pronounced dead.

Lawson was arrested around midnight that evening in Elk Grove Village, where he sitting in his car in a store parking lot near Route 53 and Biesterfield Road, police said.

Dart said Lawson was a stay-at-home dad and had not had an outside job in about a year. The mother worked two jobs, one as a nurse.

Police said Lawson has no prior criminal record.