Campton Hills man admits to involuntary manslaughter for beating mother to death
A Campton Hills man pleaded guilty Wednesday to involuntary manslaughter, for beating his mother to death with a baseball bat in 2019 when he drunkenly mistook her for an intruder.
Thomas Summerwill, 23, of the 40W600 block of Willowbrook Drive, will spend four years on probation, perform 200 hours of community service, and wear an alcohol monitor for up to a year, according to the plea deal accepted by Kane County Judge Salvatore LoPiccolo.
He also will have to undergo a psychological evaluation, and finish substance-abuse counseling.
According to Assistant Kane County State's Attorney Greg Sams, Campton Hills police were called to the Summerwills' house at 6:56 a.m. March 24, 2019. They found Mary Summerwill, 53, lying on the floor of her son's bedroom, unconscious, with Summerwill holding a towel to her head.
Sams said Summerwill told police, "I didn't know it was my mother. Oh, my God, what did I do?"
According to the account he gave police, Summerwill awoke to find a person he believed to be an intruder standing near his bed, so he grabbed a signed sports-memorabilia baseball bat off a wall and hit her repeatedly. She died of head injuries.
Summerwill had a blood-alcohol concentration of .27, which is more than three times the legal standard for intoxication for driving. He also had THC, the active ingredient in marijuana, in his system, according to Sams.
Defense attorney Liam Dixon previously said Summerwill had just returned from a trip to Europe and may have been experiencing jet lag at the time of the attack.
He initially was charged with second-degree murder, as prosecutors alleged his belief Mary Summerwill was an intruder was unreasonable. That charge, which carries a maximum prison sentence of 14 years, was dropped as part of the plea deal.