Naperville man gets 10 years for beating girlfriend

The 39-year-old Naperville man whose girlfriend slipped into a coma after he refused to let her be treated for three days following a brutal beating has been sentenced to 10 years in prison for the crime.

Darron E. Richard pleaded guilty this week to aggravated domestic battery.

Prosecutors said Richard attacked his 42-year-old live-in girlfriend late in the evening of June 18. He hit the woman five or six times with his fists as she sat on their bed in the apartment they shared near downtown Naperville.

Prosecutors said Richard had been out drinking and began accusing the woman of lying to him about what she had been doing that night.

The woman sustained several facial and skull fractures in the attack. Instead of calling for help, Richard let the woman languish in the apartment for three days before he eventually dropped her off at Edward Hospital's emergency room.

Police later tracked Richard down and arrested him.

The woman slipped into a coma at the hospital and was initially breathing with the help of a ventilator. She later recovered from her injuries.

Richard is no stranger to the legal system. He was released from prison just two months before the attack on his girlfriend. He was serving time for an aggravated battery conviction.