Woman rescinds guilty plea in Elmhurst cat stabbing case
A 51-year-old Chicago woman has withdrawn her guilty plea to charges of aggravated cruelty in the stabbing death of a family member's cat in Elmhurst.
Kelly Palermo pleaded guilty to the aggravated cruelty charge on July 26 and was to be sentenced this fall.
But Palermo's new attorney, Supervising Assistant Public Defender Kyle Rubeck, has filed a motion to withdraw her guilty plea, saying her previous attorney forced her to enter the plea.
According to court documents, Palermo “did not voluntarily waive her right to a trial in that her will was overborne by her attorney and was forced to plead guilty.”
Palermo's motion to withdraw her plea also indicates her “attorney stated she was going to jail that day if she did not plead guilty.”
She is now asking for a trial date. If convicted, Palermo faces between one and three years in prison and fines up to $25,000.
During the July hearing, DuPage County Assistant State's Attorney Kristin Johnson said Palermo became angry when the cat bit her around 9 p.m. on June 10, 2015, at her daughter's house on the 900 block of South Euclid. In response, she and her daughter, Samantha Palermo, 22, decided to kill the cat.
Johnson said Kelly Palermo held the cat down while Samantha stabbed the animal at least five times.
Kelly Palermo's 14-year-old son was able to briefly wrestle the cat away from his mother and call 911, authorities said, but Kelly Palermo quickly got the cat back.
When police arrived, Johnson said, Kelly Palermo was hosing off the back porch. She initially denied the cat was dead, but eventually led police to find the animal's remains in a trash bag.
Both women are free on $125,000 bail. Judge Robert Miller is expected to rule on Palermo's motion following a hearing on Tuesday.
Samantha Palermo is still awaiting trial on similar charges. She is also due in court Tuesday.
Samantha Palermo has two separate battery cases pending from 2014, in addition to an unlawful possession of drug paraphernalia charge.