WAUKEGAN, Ill. (AP) - A suburban Chicago coroner, citing new evidence, has determined the death of a 16-month-old boy left in the care of a day care worker wasn’t a homicide.
Melissa Calusinski was found guilty in November 2011 of first-degree murder and aggravated battery to a child in the death of Benjamin Kingan.
The Deerfield boy was attending a day care center in Lincolnshire with his twin sister when prosecutors contended Calusinski hurled him to the floor. In a videotaped statement played for jurors, Calusinski says she became overwhelmed and frustrated by misbehaving children.
Two newly found x-rays show no skull fracture in Kingan’s head. As a result, Lake County coroner on Wednesday changed Kingan’s cause of death to “undetermined.”
Lake County State’s Attorney Michael Nerheim says his office is reviewing the documents.
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