CAMPTON HILLS, Ill. — An Illinois man has been sentenced to four years of probation and 200 hours of community service in exchange for his guilty plea in the beating death of his mother, whom he mistook for an intruder.
Thomas W. Summerwill, 23, pleaded guilty Tuesday to involuntary manslaughter in the 2019 death of 53-year-old Mary B. Summerwill, whom he bludgeoned to death with a baseball bat in March of that year, the Chicago Sun-Times reported.
According to WFLD, Thomas Summerwill awoke and struck the person he believed to be an intruder multiple times in the head with the bat. Mary Summerwill died of her blunt-force trauma injuries.
Investigators determined that Thomas Summerwill’s blood-alcohol concentration at the time of the incident was .270, or more than five times the legal limit, and that his blood contained tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC, metabolites, the TV station reported.
In turn, as part of his plea agreement, Thomas Summerwill cannot consume alcohol, must wear an alcohol-monitoring device for the duration of his probation, must undergo intensive alcohol and grief counseling and submit to a psychological evaluation, the Sun-Times reported.
Kane County State’s Attorney Jamie Mosser told WFLD that incarcerating Summerwill “serves no purpose.”
“Thomas Summerwill must live with the fact that, accidental or not, he is responsible for his mother’s death. 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 told the TV station.
Mosser also stated that Mary Summerwill’s husband, son and father all consider the attack a “terrible tragedy” and did not wish to see Thomas prosecuted, WFLD reported.
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