Son of child-killer to remain in foster care

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http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?n...AG=461&dept_id
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Son of child-killer to remain in foster care

LAURA PRANAITIS, The Telegraph June 25, 2003

JERSEYVILLE -- A Jersey County judge ruled Tuesday that the 2-year-old son of
convicted child-killer Sheryl Hardy will remain a ward of the court.

The judge issued the order as Hardy appeals a decision he made in May to
terminate her parental rights because of her past murder conviction in the
death of another son.

Circuit Judge Thomas Russell made the ruling to keep the boy, whose name
Russell asked not be disclosed, in foster care instead of returning him to his
natural parents, Randy and Sheryl Hardy.

Randy Hardy asked the court through his attorney, Todd Parish, that he be
granted custody of his son while Sheryl Hardy appeals Russell’s decision to
terminate her parental rights; however, Russell said Tuesday that returning the
boy to Randy Hardy is not in the child’s best interest.

"It is in the best interest of the health and safety of the minor to remain a
ward of the court," Russell said. "The minor cannot be returned to the father
at the present time because he is still living with (Sheryl Hardy), who has
been found to be unfit."

The judge said that because Sheryl Hardy has been found to be an unfit parent,
it "would be contrary to the health, safety and best interest" of the child to
return him to Randy Hardy. Russell said Randy Hardy is a fit parent but is
"unable to care" for the child as long as he is living with Sheryl Hardy.

The Hardys have been fighting to regain custody of their son, who was taken
away one day after his birth by the Illinois Department of Children and Family
Services because of Sheryl Hardy’s role in the death of another 2-year-old
son, Bradley McGee, in Florida.

Sheryl Hardy was convicted of second-degree murder and aggravated child abuse
in 1989 after her then-husband, Thomas Coe, slammed Bradley headfirst into a
toilet as punishment for soiling his pants while the couple was trying to
potty-train him.

Sheryl Hardy and Coe then took the little boy into their living room, where
they hit him in the head with couch cushions until he fell to the ground
because his brain was hemorrhaging. Bradley died of massive brain injuries.

Coe is serving a life sentence in a Florida prison. Sheryl Hardy served nine
years of a 30-year sentence and was released from a Florida prison because of
jail overcrowding. She moved back to Jerseyville, her hometown, met Randy
Hardy, got pregnant with his baby, and the couple married.

Russell ruled in November 2001 that Sheryl Hardy had turned her life around and
deserved a chance to raise her son, so the judge returned the child to her.
Jersey County State’s Attorney Mary Kirbach prosecuted the case against
Sheryl Hardy in November 2001 and appealed Russell’s decision to the Illinois
4th District Appellate Court.

In August 2002, a three-judge panel in the appellate court unanimously
overturned Russell’s decision and found Sheryl Hardy to be an unfit parent
because of "substantial neglect" to Bradley, as defined in the Adoption Act.
Under the Adoption Act, substantial neglect is defined as continuous or
repeated neglect of any child in the household that resulted in the death of
that child.

DCFS officials once again took Sheryl Hardy’s son from her and placed him
with the same foster family who cared for him the first time he was taken from
her. Russell ruled in May to terminate her parental rights, but later in the
month, he granted a stay of his ruling, pending her appeal.

Sheryl Hardy has supervised visitation with her son for three hours once a
month; Randy Hardy has unsupervised visitation for three hours twice a week.
However, attorneys for the Hardys said they plan to request that the court
revise the visitation schedule for both parents at another court hearing at
1:30 p.m. Aug. 7.