Inset: Theresa M. Kennedy (Lake County Sheriff’s Office). Background: The block in unincorporated Antioch, Illinois, where Kennedy allegedly claimed her kids had been killed (Google Maps).
A 39-year-old Illinois mother in a heated custody battle has been arrested after she allegedly called the police and falsely reported that her ex-husband shot and killed their children. Theresa M. Kennedy was taken into custody on Friday and charged with one count of felony disorderly conduct (making a false report to 911), authorities announced.
According to a news release from the Lake County Sheriff’s Office, deputies at about 1:20 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 5, responded to a home in the 25000 block of West Jersey Drive after receiving a call from Kennedy. The house is in unincorporated Antioch, about 55 miles north of Chicago.
Authorities said Kennedy told the emergency dispatcher she was not at her home, but claimed to have received a telephone call from her eldest son, “who reported to her that he arrived home to find his younger brother and sister shot and killed.”
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As the call continued, Kennedy allegedly told the dispatcher she believed that since speaking to her eldest son, he had also been shot and killed, “because the phone had been disconnected and she could no longer reach him.”
Kennedy went on to indicate that her ex-husband “might be responsible” for the alleged murders of the children, the release says.
Deputies immediately rushed to the address, but upon arriving, found that nobody had been injured or killed. In fact, investigators soon learned that both of Kennedy’s children were “safe and in school.”
“As they investigated, they determined Kennedy made the bizarre call to the 911 center, as she is in a custody dispute with her ex-husband,” the sheriff’s office wrote in the release. “It is unknown how she felt making this false claim would be beneficial to her, or her situation.”
Following a preliminary investigation, Kennedy was placed under arrest and transported to the Lake County Jail for processing.
Authorities notified the state Department of Children and Family Services of the situation as well as the children’s father, who took custody of the children.
Kennedy made her first appearance in court on Saturday and was granted pretrial release. She is currently scheduled to appear in court again for a preliminary hearing status conference on the afternoon of Sept. 24, court records show.
Kennedy is being represented in the matter by the Lake County Public Defender’s Office.
