Jennifer Del Prete is free after retrial in Will County is dismissed

Jennifer Del Prete said she spent nine years, one month and 26 days in prison after her wrongful conviction in 2005 for the death of a 14-month-old girl in Will County.

While she was released from prison on April 30, 2014, and her conviction was overturned in August 2016, she was set to face the Will County state’s attorney’s office again in court in November for a retrial.

On Wednesday morning, Del Prete, 51, with her father by her side, was in the Will County courthouse for yet another court date to find out if the trial would in fact start on Nov. 29, or if the state needed more time to build its case. Neither she or her attorney could have predicted what happened next: Her criminal case was dismissed Wednesday after the state was no longer able to make a case against her with a new expert opinion, according to a court order, and all of the charges against her were dropped.

“We both burst into tears,” Del Prete said of her and her father’s immediate reactions. “I was screaming, ‘Finally, finally, finally,’ and we were crying.”

“The People have received and tendered the finalized expert report of Dr. Thomas Bennett,” the dismissal order said. “After careful consideration of the newly obtained expert opinion in conjunction with all of the other physical and opinion evidence in this case, the People no longer believe they can sustain their burden of proof beyond a reasonable doubt.”

“The matter was dismissed,” was all Carole Cheney, a spokesperson for the Will County state’s attorney’s office, said in an email.

Del Prete had been found guilty of first-degree murder in the 2003 death of 14-month-old Isabella Zielinski. Authorities accused Del Prete of shaking the 4-month-old at the day care facility where Del Prete served as a caretaker. The baby died about 10 months later.

During her trial, a state medical expert testified that Isabella’s injuries could have been inflicted only on the day she became unresponsive, ignoring evidence that the baby had suffered an unexplained brain injury days earlier.

Del Prete was released from prison after new evidence came to light, including a memo uncovered by journalism students at Northwestern University’s Medill Justice Project that was written by the lead Romeoville detective, who worried that the pathologist who conducted the autopsy did not agree with the shaken baby syndrome theory.

The new evidence led a judge to release her in 2014 while her case was reviewed, and her conviction was overturned in August 2016 in the appellate court. A judge ordered a new trial. The Will County state’s attorney’s office had said it would appeal the ruling.

Pat Blegen, the lead attorney on her case with local law firm Blegen & Garvey, said Wednesday’s hearing was supposed to be a status update. Blegen said he was given the dismissal order and the news 10 minutes before the hearing began. He said nobody expected anything like it to happen that day, but that it was “a long time coming.”

“She literally said ‘Hallelujah!’” Blegen said. “It was great. She was overwhelmed with emotion and happiness.”

He said she cried, and Will County Judge Carmen Goodman gave her tissues in the courtroom as Del Prete heard the judge say to her, “Congratulations, and good luck.”

“The criminal case is over — it’s done. … She has been an innocent person for a long time, and now there are no charges,” Blegen said.

“She’s ecstatic,” Joel Murphy, another one of her attorneys, said Thursday afternoon. “Of course … we’re all very thrilled. This should have happened a long time ago.”

Del Prete said she hasn’t spoken to Isabella’s family in nearly 20 years but said, “All our hearts go out to the Zielinski family, and we wish them peace.”

After she was released from prison, Del Prete filed a lawsuit against several investigators in her case, including officers from Romeoville and Plainfield police, accusing them of withholding evidence and fabricating scientific findings. When her retrial was scheduled, the lawsuits were put on hold. Now, Del Prete said she is ready to “fight this to the end, no matter what.”

“I’ve been through hell with Will County, and I will say that 100 times,” she said.

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The Chicago-based law firm Loevy & Loevy is handling Del Prete’s civil case.

Del Prete said the lawsuit is “not about the money at this point,” but about the time she lost.

“They can’t replace anything,” she said. “They took all three of my siblings’ weddings from me. They took all but two of the births of my nieces and nephews from me. I’ve missed my grandpa’s death, my grandma’s death. I’ve missed so many milestones with my children, and nothing I win will ever compensate.”

She said it was a “blessing” she got out “just in time” for the wedding of her daughter, who is now 33, and to help her son, now 25, “officially become an adult.”

Del Prete is currently living in Hanover, Illinois, and working as a night auditor for a hotel in Galena. She said she was planning to travel with her family ahead of the trial next month but now wants to plan bigger, longer trips to truly celebrate.

She also said she wants to keep sharing her story and educate people on shaken baby syndrome and what happened to her during her trial.

“It’s been a rough journey for all of us, my whole family, friends, so many other people affected that no one realizes,” she said. “But my parents raised a very strong person, and I’ve always spoken up and fought for what is right. Now, I’m a free woman.”