Lawyer wants lower bail for accused mother
A Kane County woman accused of fatally stabbing her disabled 34- year-old daughter likely will need psychological testing, her attorney said Friday as he asked that her bail be lowered so she can be released from jail.
Charged with two counts of first-degree murder, Betty C. Whitten remains in the Kane County Jail on $2 million bail.
“It’s excessive under the circumstances,” said her attorney, Herbert Hill, who asked Friday for a hearing to lower her bail. “We think she should be entitled to some lower bond.”
Whitten, 58, is accused of stabbing her eldest daughter to death Monday in the family’s rural home outside St. Charles. Her daughter, Nyakiambi Whitten, was handicapped by cerebral palsy, authorities said.
After Nyakiambi Whitten was slain, her mother allegedly put her body in a family car, drove with her to St. Charles, then swerved the vehicle off a bridge over the Fox River in what investigators said appeared to be a suicide attempt.
MOM’S MENTAL STATE SCRUTINIZED
Betty Whitten survived the crash with minor injuries and was charged a day later with murder.
Hill said he expects to have Whitten, who has no criminal record and has been described as being devoted to her daughter, evaluated to determine what her mental state was at the time Nyakiambi was slain.
“I think that’s likely at some point,” he said, although he declined to say if he might raise an insanity defense.
Authorities are exploring whether Whitten, who was her daughter’s main caregiver, may have been depressed or despondent over her daughter’s condition.
Kane County prosecutors will oppose any effort to reduce Whitten’s bail, assistant state’s attorney Greg Sams said.