Mother Who Killed Disabled Daughter To Be Sentenced

An Illinois woman who killed her disabled daughter is scheduled to be sentenced next week. Everyone who knew Bonnie Liltz knew her life revolved around her daughter, Courtney, who she adopted when the child was 5-years-old. She calls the day she adopted her “the happiest day of my life.” If that was the happiest day, then the worst day was most assuredly the day the woman crushed a variety of medications and put them into her daughter’s feeding tube then stirred the remainder into her glass of wine and drank it.

The 56-year-old mother and her 28-year-old daughter were found by family members the following morning, both unconscious in their beds. Next to the mother they found a suicide letter expressing how distraught she was about her fears for her daughter’s future. Liltz survived, but her daughter did not. It was only later when the woman realized she had killed her daughter but survived her own suicide attempt.

Bonnie Liltz hopes to get a plea deal for the murder of her daughter, Courtney Liltz. pic.twitter.com/XB10tzbxdk

— Stacey Wescott (@StaceyWescott1) May 10, 2016

Courtney was severely disabled. She suffered from cerebral palsy and was unable to care for herself in any way. For 23 years, Bonnie fed her, bathed her, dressed her, and, by all accounts, loved her with all her heart. She raised her daughter alone and says she never once considered her a burden. Courtney was unable to talk or feed herself, and had severely impaired mobility, says her mother.

“I never felt that she was a burden. Every day was a privilege.”

From all appearances, Liltz was perfectly content to continue caring for her disabled daughter as long as necessary. The problems began, she says, when she began having serious health problems of her own. At that time, she began struggling with recurring cancer and intestinal issues. At one point, back in 2012, Liltz was hospitalized and Courtney was briefly institutionalized. She was horrified at the level of care her daughter received. She says Courtney came home dirty and upset, and she couldn’t bear the thought of that being repeated.

Bonnie Liltz adopted daughter Courtney picture https://t.co/CorYwWooSv pic.twitter.com/n82N2dol0n

— China News (@ChinaNews86) May 11, 2016

As Bonnie’s health continued to fail, she began to fear for Courtney’s future, wondering what would happen to her daughter if she herself died. She felt that the only place her daughter would be safe would be in heaven, with her. According to a report from Fox 7, when she woke up early on the morning of May 27,2015, she says she was in pain so terrible she thought she was dying. It was then when her plan began to formulate. She says she couldn’t bear the thought of leaving her daughter behind and being institutionalized again. Her thought process was that if she killed her daughter, then killed herself, it was her only hope.

“I thought… I was dying. I prayed to God, ‘What’s going to happen to Courtney?’ I was scared and overwhelmed. I couldn’t bear the thought of her in an institution for the rest of her life.”

On Bonnie Liltz’s behalf, there was no limit of supporters. Her sister, Susan Liltz, found them both unconscious in their beds later the same day. She testified on her sister’s behalf, requesting leniency and saying a prison sentence would be a death sentence because of Bonnie’s health problems. Bonnie’s mother, Gladys Liltz, said the worst punishment would be for her to have to miss her daughter, Courtney, every day. According to Bonnie’s father, Victor Liltz, what his daughter did was “an act of love.” Gladys went on to assure the court that Bonnie believed her disabled daughter would “go to heaven and be safe there.”

Several people who knew the Liltzs, including some who worked at Courtney’s former school and a daycare she had attended, said they considered her a devoted and caring mother who advocated on her daughter’s behalf, mentioning the fact that this was a woman who raised a disabled daughter as a single mother. Bonnie’s attorney, Thomas Glasgow, said she “adopted a child that nobody else wanted. She had a lifelong dedication and devotion to someone society had thrown away.” On her own behalf, says the Chicago Tribune, Bonnie told the court she’d been unable to have children of her own after a bout with ovarian cancer.

“But in all ways but biological, I was Courtney’s mother. I fed her, I dressed her and I loved her. Nobody in this courtroom could know how I loved her and how she loved me.”

Liltz’s courtroom appearance last Wednesday afternoon was her first public statement since being charged last year with first-degree murder. She pleaded guilty to a lesser charge, involuntary manslaughter, earlier this past week. Prosecutors recommended that she receive four years of probation, along with mental health treatment, rather than prison time. The maximum sentence she could receive after having killed her daughter would be up to 14 years in prison. Liltz’s frail appearance, says Fox News, hinted at her poor health, and she cried at several points, saying she wished she could “turn back the clock and care for her again.” Judge Joel Greenblatt said he will announce his sentence next week.

People have been strongly impacted by this story, some expressing strong anger with a woman who killed her disabled daughter, while others have sympathized with a terrified mother in fear for her daughter’s future. What are your feelings? Please weigh in on the comments below.

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