URBANA, Ill. (AP) — A former University of Illinois student has been sentenced to a decade in prison after pleading guilty in connection with her newborn baby’s suffocation death.
Lindsay Johnson of Monee was sentenced Friday after pleading guilty to felony endangering the life or health of a child. She previously was charged with first-degree murder when authorities say she suffocated her baby son in March 2016 after giving birth in a residence hall bathroom at the Champaign-Urbana campus.
Officers found her near the campus’ Music Building wearing a backpack with the deceased newborn inside.
Her attorney Tony Bruno of Urbana said the 21-year-old “is haunted by regret for what happened.” Johnson received the maximum sentence for the charge. She briefly looked at her parents in court before going to a holding cell.