The
Chicago Tribune described it as a "highly unusual move": An Illinois woman was granted bond by appellate court judges last year after beginning a four-year prison term related to the
death of her severely disabled adult daughter. Now, just days before Bonnie Liltz was to report back to prison, she apparently took her own life. Liltz pleaded guilty in May 2016 to involuntary manslaughter, claiming she was worried about what would happen to Courtney, 28, if Liltz's own health issues killed her;
NBC Chicago reports she had ovarian cancer at age 18, and it caused serious and lingering intestinal issues. "I felt the only place she would be safe would be in heaven with me," she
told the court. She spent 70 days in prison but was released after her lawyer argued she wasn't receiving the proper medical care.
But Liltz, 57, was ordered to surrender Monday after the state Supreme Court decided not to take up her case; she was found dead Saturday. The Tribune reports police were called to the apartment—the same one where Liltz put powder from broken-up medicine capsules into Courtney's feeding tubes, then into her own wine in an apparent suicide attempt—by concerned family members. "It's a tragic, tragic end," says her attorney, Tom Glasgow, who adds that she did leave a note. "She just didn't want to die in prison." Police say there is no sign of foul play, but an investigation is ongoing. Though they haven't released details, Glasgow said she overdosed on pills, per WGN. Liltz's mother, Gladys, says her daughter got what she wanted: "She's at peace now, in heaven with her daughter." Read more on the case here. (More involuntary manslaughter stories.)
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