Bail increased for Elmhurst mom accused of poisoning son
A DuPage County judge increased bail to $1 million Monday for an Elmhurst mom accused of poisoning her 7-year-old son in a failed murder-suicide attempt.
The decision by Judge Daniel Guerin came after prosecutors played in court an audio recording of Cheryl Luchetta threatening her ex-husband over the phone and demanding to talk to the child, despite a court order prohibiting contact.
“She was easily and unreasonably angered,” Assistant State’s Attorney Demetri Demopoulos argued.
In addition to more than tripling Luchetta’s earlier bail of $300,000, the judge beefed up bond conditions to bar her from going within a mile of the boy, rather than 2,000 feet as previously ordered, should she be released from the county jail.
Luchetta has “frequently” attempted to call or contact her son by mail since her arrest in June, prosecutors said in recent court filing that described her as a “grave risk.”
Luchetta also has been cited for rule violations at the jail and placed in segregation three times while awaiting trial, the filing says. In several instances, she used racial epithets toward sheriff’s deputies or other inmates, prosecutors said. She also was accused of exposing her buttocks, throwing salt in an inmate’s face, and threatening to break another inmate’s neck.
Prosecutors say Luchetta, 42, tried to kill her son by giving him prescription medication and Tylenol PM before cutting her own throat. She later told police she and her husband were going through a divorce, and she couldn’t bear to live without the child, authorities said.
According to court records, the divorce was finalized in February, with Luchetta’s ex-husband receiving custody of the boy, now 8.