A 39-year-old Illinois man was sentenced to 60 years in the Illinois Department of Corrections for his role in the death of his mother in 2019.
Clinton Sanders was ordered into the custody of the Illinois Department of Human Services for a period not to exceed 60 years by the Honorable Joshua A. Meyer.
On May 24, 2023, a bench trial was held in front of the Honorable Joshua A. Meyer on one count of first-degree murder. At trial, the State proved beyond a reasonable doubt the defendant had murdered is mother, Sandra Sanders.
It was shown that on Dec. 15, 2019, a welfare check was conducted at the residence of Sanders. She was found outside of the residence, barely responsive under a deck behind the house.
Sandra was taken to Carlinville Area Hospital. While receiving medical treatment, she identified her son, Clinton Sanders as the individual who had harmed her. A forensic pathologist report determined Sandra died of blunt force trauma.
Gillespie Police Chief Jared DePoppe testified that he made contact with Clinton on Dec. 16, 2019, where Clinton repeated claimed he was under spiritual attack and was making little sense.
Chief DePoppe conducted a video-tapped interview which was admitted into evidence. In the video, Clinton was initially alone in the room carrying on conversations as if others were there. During the interview, Clinton stated that a demonic force took over his body during the incident. Multiple times during the interview, Clinton directed invisible people to talk to Chief DePoppe.
A commitment hearing was held on Wednesday where the State proved that Clinton mental illness posed the threat of Clinton causing serious physical harm to himself or others.
Judge Meyer ordered Mr. Sanders into the custody of the Illinois Department of Human Services for a period no to excess of 60 years from the date of the homicide which set his maximum out date at December 16, 2079.
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