December 21, 2010 6:10 PM | No Comments
A Joliet woman who fatally stabbed her abusive boyfriend in the neck after an argument over a cell phone was sentenced today to 8 years in prison.
Patrick Ann Parks, 49, who earlier pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in the 2007 death of Danny Williams, was diagnosed with battered woman's syndrome by experts hired by both prosecutors and her defense team.
Her attorney, Jeff Tomczak, said their expert found Parks suffered repeated "physical, sexual and emotional abuse."
He said records show Parks had been treated for injuries Williams inflicted, including being hit on the head with a brandy bottle and being struck in the face with a skillet.
Judge Carla Alessio-Policandriotes noted that in many of the records, Parks was found to have been drinking and that she failed to cooperate when authorities tried to prosecute Williams.
"Danny Williams and Patrick Parks were certainly co-dependent," the judge said. "Based on their history, at some point an act like this was inevitable."
On Oct. 27, 2007, Parks returned to her new apartment at 22 Cagwin Ave. to find Williams doing drugs. The two and a third man did some drinking but later fought when Williams wouldn't return Park's cell phone.
"I want my phone," the third man heard Parks say before she plunged a butcher knife into Williams' neck.
Tomczak argued that Parks knew the cell phone was a lifeline if Williams again decided to beat her.
But Assistant State's Attorney Matthew Guzman argued the circumstances showed "anger and drinking" played a role in Parks' actions.
Willie Mae Moore, Williams' mother, and his sister Sandra Moore said after the hearing they were disappointed with the judge's decision.
Parks likely will serve about a year in prison after being credited for the three years she's already spent in jail.
"She got off easy," Moore said. "I don't think it was justice."
Sandra Moore, who runs a Joliet clothing store, said she stopped undergoing treatments for cancer for a time out of guilt for not going to help her brother that night.
"I know if I would've gone he would've been alive today," she said in court.
Parks, in a statement read by one of her attorneys, apologized for what she did and asked the judge to give her a second chance at life, saying she hoped one day to return to her home state of Arkansas.
-- Steve Schmadeke
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