Lake Co. daycare worker charged in death faces life behind bars
A 22-year-old Carpentersville woman could spend the rest of her life behind bars if convicted of the murder of a toddler at a Lincolnshire day care center.
The Lake County grand jury on Wednesday indicted Melissa M. Calusinski on 14 counts of first-degree murder and two counts of aggravated battery of a child for slamming 16-month-old Benjamin Kingon of Deerfield to the ground Jan. 14, said Assistant States Attorney Steve Scheller, chief of the felony review division.
The first-degree murder charges included various prison terms based on trying to kill or inflict bodily harm to the toddler, Scheller said. The aggravated battery of the child charges also come with varying prison term lengths due to Calusinski's age compared to the age of the child.
"In Illinois, there are a number of ways to charge a person when it's proven they intended to kill or cause great bodily harm to a child," Scheller said. "The counts by the grand jury reflect those different ways."
Calusinski remains behind bars in Lake County jail in lieu of $5 million bond.
Lincolnshire police said Calusinski was working as a teacher's assistant at Minee Subee in the Park day care center on Marriott Drive when she threw the child to the ground.
Initially, officials said it looked as though Benjamin died of natural causes. An autopsy later revealed the death was caused by blunt force trauma to the head.
Calusinski told police she was having problems with some of the children in the day care center before losing her temper and throwing Benjamin to the ground. The boy then crawled across the room to a bouncing seat where he died, police said.
The day care center was ordered closed Jan. 30 by the state Department of Children and Family Services as part of the investigation into Benjamin's death. Lincolnshire police confirmed they helped DCFS seize records, documents and computers from the business when the day care center was shuttered.
Officials at Minee Subee day care center in Mount Prospect said the Lincolnshire facility remains closed.
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