Mom: Judge Wrong To Blame Me For DUI Wreck That Killed My Son
CHICAGO (CBS) -- Kathie LaFond wasn't tried for her son's death, but a published report says a judge threw blame her way.
"It's trying to make me a bad person that I'm not," LaFond told CBS 2's Kristyn Hartman on Monday.
One night in 2010 she went to pick up her boyfriend, Cecil Conner, who had too much to drink. During the trip, a Chicago Heights police officer pulled her over and took her in for a suspended license, leaving her son with Conner.
He later crashed the car, and 5-year-old Michael Langdon Jr. died. LaFond says the officer knew the risk because she told him three times.
It's one reason she questions why a judge might have said she bore any responsibility. So does her attorney Mark Horwitz.
Conner was sentenced to 9 ½ years in prison for the boy's death. Horwitz and LaFond say the officer who made the stop should bear some of the burden.
The judge who sentenced Conner did say the officer might have prevented the crash, but didn't cause it.
LaFond's lawyer said if the officer doesn't bear criminal responsibility, then they'll have their day in civil court.
Chicago Heights police had no comment.
LaFond said she misses Michael terribly.
"My whole world is upside down," she said. "When I see other kids, it tears me more up inside because I don't get to hear 'Mommy and Daddy' like all the other people get to hear."
