A terminally-ill Chicago mother who killed her severely disabled daughter in 2015 was pronounced dead by suicide.
Officials confirmed Bonnie Liltz, 57, who was set to return to prison Monday for the crime, was found inside her Schaumburg apartment Saturday.
Liltz was sentenced last year after pleading guilty to involuntary manslaughter of her daughter, Courtney, who was 28 at the time the mother gave her a lethal dose of prescription medication.
She previously revealed the motive over concern of who would care for Courtney after she passed away from her own health complications.
Liltz told her own mother earlier Saturday she had plans to meet up with a friend for lunch and a movie, according to ABC 7 Chicago.
But friends and family later discovered the suicide note that said Liltz loved them ‘very much and that she’s sorry, that she just could not go back to that place,’ her sister, Sue Liltz, revealed in a statement to the news station.
It seems the depressed Liltz overdosed on medication she previously gave to her daughter and also took herself at the time of Courtney’s death.
Bonnie Liltz, center, appears at a Rolling Meadows courthouse Wednesday, May 11, 2016, in Rolling Meadows, Ill. Liltz. Officials confirmed Liltz died by suicide Saturday
Liltz appears with attorney Thomas Glasgow at a Rolling Meadows courthouse last year. She admitted to killing her disabled daughter back in 2015 over worry about who would care for her after she died from her own health complications
Liltz adopted her daughter Courtney (pictured above) when she was four years old, despite the child’s handicap
In a note to her attorneys, Liltz wrote she was ‘tired’ of fighting and just wanted to ‘be with’ Courtney again.
‘All she ever wanted was to be with her Courtney. She was such, such a good mother,’ her mother, said Gladys Liltz said.
Her attorney, Tom Glasgow, described the suicide to be ‘a tragic, tragic end,’ while adding Liltz ‘didn’t want to die in prison.’
On the anniversary of her daughter’s passing last May, Liltz seemed in good spirits as she exited the Cook County Third Municipal District Courthouse in Rolling Meadows.
She adopted Courtney when she was just four years old, despite the child’s handicap.
The depressed Liltz killed herself Saturday inside her apartment in Schaumburg, Illinois (pictured)
Around the time Liltz’ health declined, she mixed the fatal concoction for herself and her daughter.
In 2012, while Liltz was hospitalized for reoccurring cancer and serious intestinal problems, Courtney had to stay in a private facility under horrendous conditions.
What happened to Courtney in the private facility haunted Liltz, according to her sister Susan.
‘She was filthy, her clothes were filthy, she had diaper rash. It broke Bonnie’s heart to see Courtney like that,’ Susan told the Chicago Tribune at the time.
She gave Courtney, who had cerebral palsy, the overdose through her feeding tube before taking it herself along with a glass of wine.
She left another suicide note, according to authorities, which read in part:
‘I am so sorry to put you all through this but I can’t leave my daughter behind. … I go first, what will happen to her?
‘I don’t want her to live in an institution for the rest of her life. She is my life.’
Horrified, Susan found her sister and niece unconscious and called for help.
Courtney died at the hospital, but Liltz was revived and later arrested in the murder.
She was initially charged with first-degree murder, but upon hearing her story, the charge was lessened to the second-degree involuntary manslaughter charge.
Liltz (pictured, center) was seen smiling in court last May after pleading guilty to the involuntary manslaughter of her 28-year-old severely disabled daughter
Prosecutors leaned toward leniency in the case after friends and family painted Liltz as a loving and devoted mother
Prosecutors became lenient in the case after friends and family painted Liltz as a loving and devoted mother who had her daughter’s best interests at heart.
They hadn’t requested a specific sentence and did not call witnesses to testify in favor of a harsh sentence.
Courtney, who could not talk or care for herself, attended Kirk School in Palatine until she turned 22.
She then attended a day program, where officials from her school and the program told the Chicago Tribune Liltz was an involved and devoted mom.
They also told the Tribune that Courtney seemed happy and greatly cared for.
Another longtime friend said Bonnie placed Courtney in a residential program years ago, but ultimately decided she didn’t want her to leave home, the Tribune reported.
Her attorney said there was no evil or malice in Liltz’s actions and said her act was out of desperation – not knowing what to do to protect Courtney if she died.
Liltz faced probation or three to 14 years in prison for the involuntary manslaughter conviction.