Kae Cassandra Lawson

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A month after Kae Lawson’s 5th birthday her father Elmyr Lawson was babysitting Kae while her mother was at work. Kae’s father never picked her mother up from work. Instead he killed his only child. Kae’s father had killed her then run away. He killed Kae because she was running around and messing up the house. He got a towel and chased her. He grabbed her and leaned on her. His weight was on her tiny body as he held the towel over her face. And he wasn't a thin guy, either! Though Kae struggled it was no use. She was suffocated and crushed for being a five year, doing things that five year olds do.

 

When Kae’s mother finally got a ride home from work about 10:20 p.m. Elmyr Lawson was not home. Then she discovered her daughter lying unresponsive on the apartment’s living room floor. Elmyr was located near midnight 15 miles away from his home. He was sitting behind the wheel of his car in a store parking lot at Biesterfield and Route 53 in Elk Grove Village. Local police, responding to an ISPERN message sent out statewide by Sheriff’s Police, found Lawson and he was taken into custody without incident. The next morning, the Cook County Medical Examiner ruled the child’s death a homicide by suffocation.

 

Lawson as charged with two counts of first degree murder. Elmyr Lawson, said he heard voices commanding him to kill his daughter was found not guilty of murder by reason of insanity after a two day bench trial. Defense attorneys argued that Lawson had battled mental illness for years. Prosecutors said Lawson was mentally ill, but understood the criminality of his actions and killed his only child because she made a mess with her toys.