An Illinois man who beat his mother to death with a baseball bat after he mistakingly thought she was an intruder will serve probation and community service in exchange for a guilty plea.
Thomas Summerwill, 23, agreed to the deal for the March 2019 death of his mother, Mary Summerwill, the Kane County State’s Attorney’s office said. Under the terms of the agreement, he will serve four years of probation and perform 200 hours of community service.
“Thomas Summerwill must live with the fact that, accidental or not, he is responsible for his mother’s death,” Kane County State’s Attorney Jamie Mosser said. “He will never again be able to hug her, seek advice from her, or tell her he loves her. He will never be able to introduce his children to their grandmother. That is a heavy burden.”
Mosser added that sending anyone to prison “under these circumstances – serves no purpose.”
Summerwill was sentenced on July 28. Mosser said Mary Summerwill’s loved ones did not wish to see her son prosecuted.
Thomas Summerwill, 23, has received probation and community service in the beating death of his mother, Mary Summerwill in exchange for e a guilty plea.
(WFLD-TV)
Thomas Summerwill awoke on March 24, 2019 and thought someone had broken into his bedroom in his home in Campton Hills, located 55 miles west of Chicago, prosecutors said. Not realizing the person was his 53-year-old mother, he grabbed a baseball bat and struck her several times on the head, authorities said.
“I didn’t know it was my mother. Oh, my God, what did I do?” Summerwill told responding officers, The Pantagraph reported.
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Mary Summerwill died of blunt force injuries. An investigation revealed her son had a blood-alcohol level of .270%, way above .08%, the legal limit in Illinois. A condition of his plea deal prohibits him from drinking alcohol and he must wear an alcohol monitoring device for a portion of his probation.
He is also required to undergo a psychological evaluation as well as alcohol and grief counseling.
Mosser said Thomas Summerwill should understand “what went wrong, why it happened and that he work to ensure he has a safe and productive life, along with the tools to ensure he is never again involved in such a preventable tragedy.”