A former University of Illinois student accused of suffocating her newborn child in a dorm bathroom in March 2016 pleaded guilty Friday to felony child endangerment as part of a plea deal.
Lindsay L. Johnson, 21, of Monee, was sentenced to 10 years in prison and one year mandatory supervised released as part the agreement the maximum she could have received for an extended class 3 felony, Champaign County State's Attorney Julia Rietz said.
Johnson, who had been charged with first-degree murder and faced up to 75 years in prison had she been convicted at trial, did not offer a statement at Friday's plea hearing.
Rietz said concern over proving intent in the case led prosecutors to make the deal.
"Looking at the facts of the case, we felt that a jury might struggle with the question of intent," she said. "Obviously, this is a very emotional case and we were concerned if we went to a trial in a first-degree murder case, the question of her intent would have been an issue for the jury.
"So that question, as well as just the overall entirety of this tragic case led us to believe that this was an appropriate resolution. It's a prison sentence. It holds her responsible for the death of this child, but it also acknowledges what I think are clearly some mental health issues that she is absolutely going to need to address in the future."