A Waukegan mother accused of murdering her 11-year-old daughter appears headed for trial, after prosecutors and her defense team were unable to reach a plea bargain in the case.
Nicholette R. Lawrence was in a Lake County courtroom Friday morning as lawyers on both sides said negotiations appeared to have ended after prosecutors did not make a counteroffer in negotiations with the defense.
“I cannot make the state make an offer,” Judge James Booras said. “It’s to my disapproval when I hear these things happen.”
Lawrence, 33, has pleaded not guilty to multiple counts of first-degree murder and remains in Lake County Jail on a $5 million bond for allegedly striking her daughter, Raashanai Coley, in the stomach before she died in September 2014.
Last month, both prosecutors and defense attorneys said negotiations for a plea deal were under way and progress was being made. On Friday, defense attorney Keith Grant said he had made an offer, but the state had rejected it and made no counteroffer.
Contacted after the hearing, State’s Attorney Michael Nerheim said that he couldn’t speak to details of the case, but he thinks the right decision had been made.
“I believe we are handling the case correctly based on the evidence we have,” Nerheim said.
Authorities have said there is evidence of ongoing abuse in the case aside from the punch that is believed to have killed her.
Booras had said if a plea was not reported this week, he would continue with Lawrence’s scheduled trial date of April 11. Assistant State’s Attorney Fred Day said he would file a motion next week seeking for a continuance of the trial to a later date.
Day did not elaborate on his reasons for requesting a further delay of the trial, and neither Day nor Grant would comment on the case following the hearing.
At a hearing earlier this week, Booras was told by the state that a potential plea offer had been given to Nerheim for review, and Friday’s hearing was set at that point.
More Top Picks Benq Ms524a
Waukegan police have said Lawrence admitted to striking the child in the stomach, and that the resulting investigation and autopsy revealed additional evidence of abuse, including that the girl was malnourished.
Following Raashanai’s death, an autopsy showed signs of malnutrition and evidence of past abuse, including scarring and bruises.
Police were called to the child’s Gillett Avenue home on the evening of Sept. 5, 14, for a report of an unresponsive child. Raashanai was pronounced dead later that night at Vista Medical Center East in Waukegan .
The death of the girl shocked her Waukegan neighborhood, which held a block-wide bake sale to help pay for funeral expenses.
According to police, Lawrence told investigators she had struck her daughter in the stomach earlier that week. The autopsy showed the punch went through to her spine and caused a tear in the stomach.
The 11-year-old weighed only 60 pounds, and the condition of her home was found to be substandard when officers arrived with a search warrant after the death, police said
Twitter @jimnewton5