Attorney Expresses ‘Bonafide Doubt’ About Grandma’s Sanity

The assistant public defender representing the Oak Lawn woman accused of murdering her 6-month-old granddaughter—a baby who once lived with her parents in Bolingbrook—expressed a “bonafide doubt” about his client’s sanity in court earlier this week.

Alfreda Giedrojc, 62, appeared in Cook County Judge Colleen A. Hyland’s courtroom Wednesday in Bridgeview wearing dark blue jail scrubs, after a delay due to a tardy jail bus.

Hinting that he may be mounting an insanity defense, Giedrojc’s attorney, Michael Wilson, who was also late to court, hinted that he may be preparing an insanity defense.

“I have bonafide doubt that she is fit to stand trial,” Wilson said.

Wilson based his doubt on police reports from Oct. 6, when Giedrojc’s infant granddaughter, Vivian Summers, was found gravely injured in the grandmother’s home. The infant had been battered with a sledgehammer, and when the infant would not stop moving, Giedrojc slit her granddaughter’s throat, prosecutors have alleged.

“I’ve been reading the police reports,” the assistant public defender said. “I have doubt that she made a statement in the reports.”

Wilson did not elaborate in court which of Giedrojc’s statements he questioned. The afternoon of Oct. 6, Giedrojc was questioned by Oak Lawn police, who say that she admitted to killing the baby in a video statement.

Giedrojc also allegedly told police of putting the sledgehammer in the closet the night before she was left alone in the house with the baby.

The judge also granted requests for releasing Giedrojc’s hospitalization and medication records. In the days after the alleged murder, Giedrojc was held in the Cermak Hospital division of Cook County Jail.

Statements made during that stay to the psychiatrist cannot be used at trial, unless Giedrojc’s attorney raises an insanity defense.

Should she refuse to participate in the psychiatric evaluation yet pleads insanity, that fact that the refused can be used in court.

Two relatives of the Oak Lawn grandmother were also in the courtroom on Wednesday, but left before Giedrojc’s appearance. The relatives did not indicate if they were immediate family and did not wish to speak to reporters.

Giedrojc is due back in court for a status hearing on Jan. 29.

Read Patch's complete coverage of grandmother slaying case:

• Grandma Pleads Not Guilty To Murdering Baby Granddaughter

• Grandmother Accused of Killing Baby Indicted in Court
• Grandma Killed Baby With Sledgehammer and Knife, Prosecutor Says
• VIDEO: Oak Lawn Police Chief Talks to Reporters After Alfreda Giedrojc's Bond Hearing
• VIDEO: Prosecutor Speaks on Charges in Baby Homicide

• Oak Lawn Police Release Few Details In Baby Homicide Investigation
• Relative Being Questioned in Infant's Death
• VIDEO: Press Conference on Homicide Investigation in Infant's Death