The mother of a 3-year-old girl who was murdered by the woman`s boyfriend will appear Thursday at a Juvenile Court hearing in an effort to regain custody of her two other daughters.
Irene Taboada was living with Leonardo Nunez in 1988 when he placed the child, Lilly, in a bathtub and poured boiling water over her, according to Criminal Court records.
Nunez, 45, of 2735 W. Division St., pleaded guilty to murder and is serving a 60-year prison sentence, said Assistant State`s Atty. Neal Goodfriend, who prosecuted the case.
But questions still remain: Was Taboada at home the day her child suffered the deadly injury? Was she aware of past abuses inflicted on Lilly and her other daughters-including sexual abuse? Was she responsible for their safety? And does she deserve to regain custody of her other children?
On the morning of June 21, 1988, Nunez ”took Lilly to the bathtub and poured boiling water over her,” Goodfriend said. He then left the home, and Lilly suffered for hours before she was taken to a hospital that evening, Goodfriend said. The child died of the burns weeks later.
Taboada`s lawyer, James Rosas, said, ”I don`t think there`s any evidence that my client was present or knew what was happening” when Lilly was burned. He said that Taboada, a factory worker, ”had to ask somebody to take care of the children, like every working mom in the city does.”
Yet the Cook County public guardian`s office has a different view.
”Our position is that the mother was there when the abuse was going on, and she had to know,” said Ellen O`Brien, who works for the guardian`s office and was appointed to represent the children.
Behind the case, Rosas pointed out, is a broader issue: ”The philosophy of Juvenile Court is to put the family back together at some point, if possible.”
But critics have a hard time accepting that philosophy when it comes to cases of severe child abuse or neglect.
”You see some judges over there (in Juvenile Court) returning kids who have been sexually abused or badly beaten,” said Public Guardian Patrick Murphy. ”They think natural parents have the right to get their kids back no matter what. Sometimes they forfeit that right.”
