The mother and caregiver of a suburban Chicago 14-year-old boy found stabbed to death were ordered held without bond a day after they were charged with first-degree murder.
Prosecutors in court Wednesday said Dorothy Spourdalakis, 50, and Jolanta Agata Skrodzka, 44, had been planning for a week to kill Alex Spourdalakis, who has autism. The teen was found Monday with multiple stab wounds to the chest in an apartment above the Forte Plumbing Co. in the 8100 block of West Grand Avenue, in west suburban River Grove.
The state's attorney said the pair first thought they could kill the teen with an overdose of sleep medication, but it was taking too long. Spourdalakis pulled out a kitchen knife and stabbed him four times in the chest, prosecutors said.
The two confessed to the murder, and prosecutors said they worked together to end the teen's suffering from autism.
Skrodzka killed the cat so it wouldn't have to go to a shelter, prosecutors said, then they both took pills to try and kill themselves.
"There was quite a bit of blood and it was pretty messy, like there had been some kind of a struggle," police chief Rodger Loni said this week.
Dorothy Spourdalakis and Skrodzka were found semi-conscious at the scene and were taken to Gottlieb Hospital in Melrose Park.
Alex Spourdalakis was the subject of a big support effort online. A Facebook page was set up for him four months ago to garner help after a hospitalization left him in physical restraints for nearly two weeks.
"It's terrible," Loni said. "It's a young 14-year-old boy who didn't need to die. I have young boys of my own. It's pretty traumatic."
Photo Credit: Cook County Sheriff's Office