Cynthia Rosenwinkel of Plano stood outside Room 114 at the Kendall County courthouse in Yorkville on Thursday waiting to hear the news.
The jury had been deliberating for 17 hours when that news finally came.
Rosenwinkel had been found guilty of battering an infant, and would spend between six and 30 years in prison.
Jurors spent two long days deliberating the outcome, and Rosenwinkel spent just as long waiting to hear it, she said.
Did Rosenwinkel violently shake a 6-month-old infant she was babysitting, or did she slip on the ice and fall with the child back in February 2011? After hearing arguments from both sides, jurors decided that the baby’s injuries were caused by an intentional act, one that occurred on Feb. 24, 2011.
It was then that Rosenwinkel was charged with felony aggravated battery to a child stemming from the incident.
According to the Kendall County Sheriff’s Office, at 11:50 a.m., paramedics were called to a home in the 1400 block of Little Rock Road in unincorporated Kendall County for reports of an infant with head injuries. The boy was taken to Valley West Hospital in Sandwich, then to Rockford Memorial Hospital where employees surmised he had symptoms of Shaken Baby Syndrome.
The sheriff’s department was contacted and began an investigation into the cause of the trauma.
According to the National Center on Shaken Baby Syndrome, the term describes a series of signs and symptoms that result from shaking the head of a small child. When the baby is shaken, the brain rotates in the skull, destroying brain tissue. This can result in compromised breathing, seizures or even death, the organization said.
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Deputies learned Rosenwinkel was babysitting the child at the time the injuries occurred. Rosenwinkel has maintained she slipped and fell with the infant on the ice, and that pre-existing conditions also contributed to the infant’s injury.
Four years later, 12 jurors decided which story was the truth.
“We’re grateful the jury is at least looking at the case seriously,” Rosenwinkel’s aunt said Thursday morning as the day’s long deliberation got underway. The aunt, who asked not to be named, was one of dozens of people who came out to support Rosenwinkel during her trial.
Friends, family members and members of Rosenwinkel’s church showed up each day, and they were next to Rosenwinkel’s side as she waited for the jury’s decision.
“We believe in her,” Rosenwinkel’s aunt said. “But, both the prosecution and defense put on a good argument.”
As she waited for the verdict on Thursday morning, Rosenwinkel said she was ready for either outcome.
“Whatever happens happens,” she said. “The glass is always half-full. It’s not empty to me.”
The guilty verdict was handed down seven hours later.
Kendall County State’s Attorney Eric Weis said shaken baby cases are difficult to try in court.
“They’re based on a lot of medical evidence,” Weis said. “The diagnosis from the doctors was that the injuries were caused by an intentional act of (Rosenwinkel) … I think our guys did a really good job presenting evidence. In this case, we established that this was not an accident, and the jury was convinced beyond a reasonable doubt that she (caused) the injuries.”
Following Rosenwinkel’s conviction Thursday evening, Weis said the state asked to revoke her bail and have her taken into custody.
The argument was ruled against, and Rosenwinkel was allowed to remain out on bond until her April 16 sentencing. She will remain on electronic home monitoring during that time, Weis said.