Naperville woman not guilty by reason of insanity in stabbing of two children

A woman who stabbed two young girls in their Lisle home last year was found not guilty by reason of insanity Friday.

Jennifer Kouchoukos, 52, of Naperville, believed the girls were spying on her, and obeyed an auditory hallucination that told her to kill them, according to a psychiatric evaluation Judge Brian Telander accepted. The report stated her mental status made her unable to appreciate the criminality of her conduct, Telander said.

Telander acquitted her of attempted first-degree murder and aggravated battery, after a stipulated bench trial that lasted about 30 minutes.

Kouchoukos was babysitting the girls, ages 1 and 4, on Nov. 17, 2023. She stabbed and cut them with a chef’s knife, a bread knife and another kitchen knife. One of the stabs punctured a lung in one of the girls. They spent several days in Comer Children’s Hospital.

Kouchoukos was found in blood-soaked clothing in a bedroom. She was unresponsive to questions and commands, according to authorities. They found an empty bottle of wine and a nearly empty bottle of rum.

The girl’s father found them in a bathroom when he came home from work.

Telander said he was required by law to acquit Kouchoukos, after reviewing the evaluation of Kouchoukos presented by the defense and undisputed by the prosecution.

That report, Telander said, stated that Kouchoukos had a “well-documented history” of chronic mental health issues, including having persistent psychosis for several decades.

Kouchoukos had persistent paranoid delusions, believing people are spying on her, according to the evaluation. She was hospitalized in 2006 for mental health issues and had a history of drinking to self-medicate, according to court records.

She was prescribed three antipsychotic medications and an antidepressant at the time of the attack. She missed a dose of her medications the night before the attack, and was drinking the day of the attack, according to authorities.

The prosecutor and Kouchoukos’ attorney agreed to the evidence presented to the judge, which were photos the scene — including the knives and the girls’ injuries — the 911 call from their father and the psychiatric evaluation.

Kouchoukos will be sent to a state mental health hospital for an evaluation to determine treatment options, either as an inpatient or outpatient.