Mom sentenced to 25 years for killing ‘possessed’ daughter

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Nelly Vazquez- Salazar

Updated: February 24, 2011 2:14AM

A Waukegan mother admitted to murdering her 6-year-old daughter who she contended was a demon in exchange for a 25-year prison sentence.

Nelly Vasquez-Salazar, 28, stabbed her daughter Evelyn Vasquez 11 times in April 2008. She pleaded guilty to the offense Dec. 13 before Lake County Circuit Judge John Phillips in exchange for a maximum sentence of 30 years in prison.

She appeared before Phillips with Public Defender Joy Gossman on Wednesday with a new, fully negotiated plea deal in place. The new plea deal was what Phillips called a “fully negotiated disposition”, meaning that Vasquez-Salazar will not need a sentencing hearing. She will be sent to the Illinois Department of Corrections for 25 years.

“By having her plead guilty and receiving 25 years, she will be deported to Mexico after she is 50 years old,” Assistant State’s Attorney Suzanne Willett said.

Vasquez-Salazar could have spent up to 60 years in prison for first-degree murder. Police said she believed her daughter was a “demon” and possessed because she had been sleep-walking and speaking in a different language for several weeks.

Vasquez-Salazar received 1,052 days of credit for the time she has spent in Lake County Jail.

She said she felt “empty and incomplete” in a prepared statement she read to the court.

“Every day is trouble as I try to grasp the death of my baby,” Vasquez-Salazar said. “Now I’m scared and alone. I have to pay for something I did not have control over.”

She has been receiving mental health counseling while in custody.

“It is this court’s very strong recommendation that you receive mental health counseling (in prison),” Phillips said. “I have made it very clear that it is essential for you to move on with your life. I hope you get that treatment. I truly wish you well.”