Prosecuters: Daughter repeatedly smashed 79-year-old mom’s head into pavement

By KIM JANSSEN Staff Reporter kjanssen@suntimes.com October 23, 2011 7:54PM

Updated: October 23, 2011 8:30PM

An enraged daughter allegedly smashed her 79-year-old mom’s head into the pavement repeatedly, leaving her in a vegetative state, prosecutors said.

Eunice Bailey, 48, and her mother, Thelma Cato, were in a car crash at 82nd and Stony Island on the evening of Sept. 17, police said.

Witnesses saw Bailey rain down blows on Cato immediately after the accident, then straddle her outside the car and smash her head against the floor, Assistant Cook County State’s Attorney Sheri Bennet said.

Cato suffered severe head trauma and was taken to Christ Hospital. She is now at Kindred Hospital on the North Side and is in a “persistent vegetative state,” Bennet said.

Onlookers in Judge Adam Bourgeois’ courtroom gasped as Bennet revealed Cato’s age and condition Sunday morning.

Information of who was driving the car during the accident was not available Sunday, authorities said.

Bailey, who was arrested Saturday near her home on the 10500 block of Martin Luther King Drive and charged with aggravated battery of a senior, was ordered held on bail of $500,000.

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