Willowbrook mom gets prison for abusing son

A young DuPage County mother was sentenced Wednesday to 15 years in prison for abusing her toddler son.

Jamine P. Walker, 20, admitted in a videotaped police confession during her April 12 arrest that she abused her son after growing frustrated with his crying. Walker demonstrated on a doll how she would batter him.

"She said she would punch him when he would cry," prosecutor Brian Perkins said. "She said she beat him to toughen him up and try to make him a man."

The boy, then 22 months old, had fractured ribs, a lacerated liver, a broken arm, bite marks and fingernail scratches. Doctors notified police while treating the child at Stroger Hospital in Chicago.

Walker, who was raising her child alone in an apartment on Lilac Lane, near Willowbrook, faced six to 60 years in prison after pleading guilty earlier this summer to aggravated battery of a child.

Walker did not have a prior criminal record. Her attorney, Jeff York, a senior assistant public defender, said Walker had a tough childhood and was ill-equipped to care for a child. Walker, who suffers from epilepsy, dropped out of high school and, at one point, was homeless after her mother had moved away and grandmother died.

But DuPage Circuit Judge Kathryn Creswell noted the severity of the child's injuries, which included signs of prior abuse, in declining to hand down a minimum punishment.

It was Walker who sought medical treatment for her son, who she said had a fever. She initially lied to police about his injuries, but later provided the videotaped confession. Authorities placed the boy in a foster home after he was released from the hospital.

Walker must serve 85 percent of the prison term before she's eligible for parole.