Hoffman Estates woman accused of trying to kill her kids pleads not guilty

A Hoffman Estates woman accused of trying to kill her two young children and herself pleaded not guilty to charges of attempted murder Thursday.

Tracy F. Johnson, 38, is charged with two counts of attempted murder, a class X felony punishable by up to 30 years in prison. She is being held at Cook County jail on $2 million bond.

Johnson made threats to harm herself in the past, say prosecutors, who claim Johnson ground up various medications and served them to her 5-year-old daughter and 2-year-old son in smoothies in May. The children didn't like the taste, so Johnson put the medications in water before abandoning that tactic and tying plastic bags over the youngsters' heads, prosecutors said.

Prosecutors also said Johnson turned on her gas stove's burners but did not light them.

Acting on a request from family members, Hoffman Estates officers went to the home and smelled natural gas. They found the 2-year-old stumbling around the apartment and the 5-year-old unresponsive. Both children recovered and are being cared for by family members, authorities said.

Johnson, who has a master's degree in counseling, told authorities she didn't want the children to go to their fathers and that "heaven was the best place for all three of them," according to prosecutors.

She next appears in court on Aug. 28.