Father gets 100-year term for drowning daughter, 8

[April 17, 2009]  WHEATON (AP) -- A suburban Chicago man with schizophrenia has been sentenced to 100 years in prison for drowning his 8-year-old daughter in a toilet.

DuPage County prosecutors say Neil Lofquist claimed his daughter, Lauren, "was evil and it is what God intended." They say he choked her, drowned her and stabbed her in the neck in March 2006.

The 43-year-old Lofquist pleaded guilty but mentally ill to first-degree murder Thursday. A charge of predatory criminal sexual assault was dismissed.

Defense attorney Jeffrey York says Lofquist is medicated and understands the court proceedings. York says prison officials will decide what medical treatment Lofquist will receive.

Lofquist's ex-wife, Lisa Wilson, read a statement in court saying Lauren's death caused her unimaginable pain.

[Associated Press]

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