The hospitalized mother of a 4-year-old girl found fatally stabbed in Bloomingdale is the sole suspect in the slaying, authorities said Thursday.
"We are not looking for any other offender," Bloomingdale police Chief Frank Giammarese said. "She's the only suspect in this case. We are still following up on all leads, which there are many. We're just trying to conduct the most thorough investigation. We're confident charges will be brought against the appropriate person."
A lengthy autopsy conducted Thursday on Magdalene M. Webber concluded the child died from a single laceration to her neck that law enforcement officials said was so deep it nearly severed the girl's head.
The girl, known as Maggie, who turned 4 on Oct. 5, was found dead about 1:30 p.m. Wednesday in her grandmother's town home in the 200 block of Amherst Court on the village's southeast side.
Her 43-year-old mother was listed in good condition at Adventist GlenOaks Hospital in Glendale Heights with a self-inflicted slash wound to her wrist, authorities said. She remains under guard while police investigate what they described as a murder and attempted suicide.
The mother and child lived in upstate New York, but Giammarese said they had been staying at the town home for "several weeks" while visiting.
He said a teenage daughter who lives elsewhere in the Chicago area called 911 after she went to the town home to check on the mother, who was alone with Maggie while the grandmother was out of the state.
A neighbor said the grandmother was in California on Wednesday. Giammarese said she has returned to Illinois.
The teenager declined to comment Thursday. Her fiance's father, Ed Ritacco, said the teenager found her younger sister slain in a dry bathtub in an upstairs bathroom. The girls' mother was conscious, he said.
"She said the first words her mother said was, 'Ssshh. Be very quiet. Your sister's sleeping,'" Ritacco said. "She said her sister was in the bathtub and there was blood everywhere."
"It's beyond comprehension," he continued. "How can you look in the eyes of an innocent child and do something like this?"
DuPage State's Attorney Joseph Birkett said the facts of the case "raise a red flag of a mental health defense," so authorities are conducting several interviews of relatives and others in recent contact with the mother to get the most accurate picture of her behavior at the time of the crime.
"This is a horrible case," Giammarese added. "For any 4-year-old to die under these circumstances is tragic. Our hearts go out to the family."
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