After more than three years of delays, a Lake County judge said this week that the trial of a Waukegan baby sitter charged with killing a 3-month-old girl will move forward as scheduled Feb. 29 unless significant progress on a plea deal is made by Monday.
Sarah Gumm, 37, is charged with first-degree murder in the July 27, 2012, death of Rylan Aislee Koopmeiners.
Following a request Tuesday from defense attorneys Greg Nikitas and Jed Stone to delay the trial until March, a move opposed by prosecutors, Judge Victoria Rossetti instead gave the two sides until Monday to resolve the case through plea negotiations.
If there “is not any movement” on a resolution, Rossetti said, she would move forward with pretrial motions Monday and the “likelihood of further continuances is not very good.”
Stone said he wanted more time for plea negotiations, while assistant state’s attorneys Eric Kalata and Ari Fisz said there has been more than enough time for negotiations in the case and the trial should move forward.
“We want a trial,” Fisz said.
Pretrial maneuvering has been complex, with several delays attributed to a number of specialized witnesses, including doctors and police officers, who would likely be testifying during a trial.
Gumm is accused by police and prosecutors of violently slamming the baby down on a table. She had been baby-sitting the Kenosha, Wis., child for six weeks in her Waukegan home before the baby died of blunt force trauma on July 27, 2012, officials said.
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Waukegan police said Gumm admitted she was responsible for the infant’s injuries.
According to the Lake County coroner’s office, the baby died of a skull fracture and cranial hemorrhaging due to blunt force head trauma.
Emergency personnel responded to Gumm’s residence in Waukegan on the day of Koopmeiners’ death and found the baby unresponsive, officials said.
The baby was transported to Vista Medical Center East in Waukegan, where she was pronounced dead.
Gumm is being held in Lake County Jail on $3 million bail.
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