Elmhurst woman pleads guilty to aggravated battery of a child

An Elmhurst woman has pleaded guilty to strangling her young son.

Gina L. Tuzzolino, 42, of the 400 block of Argyle, pleaded guilty Wednesday to aggravated battery of a child under age 13, causing bodily harm, according to DuPage County court records.

Charges of aggravated domestic battery were dropped in exchange for the plea.

She will be sentenced April 4.

The charge stated that on June 29, 2021, Tuzzolino strangled the boy, then age 5, causing him to become unconscious. According to the charge, he suffered broken blood vessels in his face, and a soft-tissue injury to his neck.

According to an Elmhurst police report, a relative of Tuzzolino’s came to her house, after Tuzzolino had called her. Tuzzolino was gone. The relative found the boy in a bathroom, unconscious and having trouble breathing.

He was hospitalized at Lurie Children’s Hospital in Chicago.

According to the police report, Tuzzolino was found shortly thereafter, critically injured, on Route 83 underneath the Prairie Path bridge. Her bicycle was parked on the bridge. A witness told police they saw her jump off the bridge.