SABRINA CLEMENT - 4 yo (2009) - Mokena (SW of Chicago) IL

Mokena teen admits killing sister


Dec 2, 2010 03:33PM

Keith Randulich



JOLIET — Keith Randulich, a Mokena teen accused of stabbing his 4-year-old half sister to death with a steak knife last year, pleaded guilty Thursday in a Will County courtroom.
Randulich, 19, will be sentenced on Jan. 25. He could face 20 to 100 years in prison, or life in prison without parole.
Randulich, of 19433 York Drive, was arrested after he called 911 on May 22, 2009. When police arrived, they found Sabrina Clement’s body in the basement.
The teen allegedly told police at the time that he had killed the girl because someone was molesting her. Prior to the murder Randulich had obtained a firearm owner’s identification card and asked his mother to buy him a gun, according to court records. She refused.
Randulich told police he had planned to use the gun to kill her alleged abuser. Because he couldn’t kill the abuser, Randulich told police he killed his half sister instead when his parents were attending a school event with another son.
The penalty for first-degree murder is 20-60 years in prison. Assistant State’s Attorney Mike Fitzgerald, who is chief of the felony division, told Judge Amy Bertani-Tomczak that the state would ask for an “enhanced sentence” of up to 100 years because the victim was under the age of 12. Also, he said the judge could sentence Randulich to life without parole if she found the crime was “exceptionally brutal or heinous.”
During Thursday’s court appearance, Fitzgerald read from the autopsy and police reports that described the killing. The girl suffered “massive and numerous” stab wounds to her neck, Fitzgerald said. And when Randulich first started to stab his sister, the girl cried out, “Stop, why are you killing me,” Fitzgerald said.
When police arrived in response to his 911 call, they found Randulich covered in blood and he confessed to the crime. He later pleaded not guilty in court, but changed that plea to guilty on Thursday.
The autopsy showed there was no sign of molestation.
Bertani-Tomczak asked Randulich if he understood that by pleading guilty he was waiving his right to a trial by jury. The teen, who was thin and pale with shaggy dark hair and glasses, answered “yes.” The judge also asked if he had anything to add, and he said “no” in a soft voice.
Randulich bowed his head and looked at his hands while waiting for his case to be called. He also kept his head bowed during most of the judge’s questioning.
No one from the family appeared to be in the courtroom Thursday. The state’s attorney’s office and the public defender’s office will work in the next few weeks to find people to testify for or against Randulich at the sentencing hearing. Fitzgerald said he did not know if family members would testify. Assistant Public Defender Mike Phillips, who is representing Randulich, would not comment on the case.http://heraldnews.suntimes.com/news/2653908-418/randulich-guilty-police-sister-teen.html

Brother says he killed sister to save her

Shortly after murdering his 4-year-old sister in his Mokena bedroom, Keith Randulich sat in a police interrogation room, apparently staring at his blood-stained pants as he explained to detectives why he did it.

A video recording of Randulich's interview with police, which came shortly after he brutally cut the neck of his half-sister Sabrina Clement in 2009, was played in court by prosecutors during a sentencing hearing Tuesday. Randulich, 19, pleaded guilty to murder charges last month.

snipped.....
The detectives repeatedly pressed Randulich to explain why he thought he was protecting Clement by killing her. "How could you harm something so beautiful?" one of the two questioning detectives asked.

"I'm not proud of that," Randulich said. "There's no excuse for it.

"She was the person I loved the most in the family. She was my best friend."

Randulich said if he could go back in time he would perhaps get a job so he could afford a gun to kill the relative.

"It was a waste of life," he said.

Randulich is scheduled to be sentenced Feb. 2.

"I just want to get this over with, whatever my punishment is, it is," Randulich says in the video recording.

read more>
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/southsouthwest/ct-met-mokena-stabbing-0126-20110125,0,4302185.story

Teen who admitted killing sister gets 40 years


CHICAGO—

A 19-year-old who admitted to killing his 4-year-old half-sister with a steak knife has been sentenced to 40 years in prison.

Keith Randulich of Mokena pleaded guilty in December to first-degree murder charges in the 2009 death of Sabrina Clement.

Authorities have said the teenager confessed to police that he stabbed his sister to protect her because he believed someone was abusing her.

Randulich was sentenced to four decades in prison on Thursday.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/chi-ap-il-mokenastabbing,0,4944085.story