Crime & Safety

Baby Killer's Lawyer Says Limits on Sex Questions Enough For New Trial

Restrictions on what questions attorneys could ask the mother of a slain baby about her sexual history prevented a Plainfield man from getting a fair trial, one of his lawyers said.

A Plainfield man convicted of killing an 8-month-old boy was deprived of a fair trial when a judge limited the questions that could be asked of the dead child's mother, an attorney argued Friday.

"We are entitled to attack the credibility of any witness," defense attorney Adam Altman told Will County Judge Sarah Jones.

During the September trial of Santos Loza, Jones restricted the attorneys' questioning of Sandra Sitko, whose son Kevion Bender was killed in October 2008. But Loza's attorneys were still able to establish Sitko continued her sexual relationship with the man who killed her child.

Sitko even admitted on the witness stand that she carried on sexually with Loza for months after Kevion's death but claimed she did so in an attempt to find out how her baby died.

Another of Loza's attorneys, Joseph "Shark" Lopez, mocked Sitko's explanation during the trial, saying, "I'm going to crack the case by having sex with Santos."

"Are you kidding me?" Lopez scoffed. "Really?"

Altman also said the defense should have been allowed to ask Sitko whether Loza got her pregnant after Kevion died. Judge Jones pointed out that the pregnancy allegation came to light after the trial started and had not been previously disclosed to prosecutors.

Loza, 33, was arrested in August 2010, nearly two years after Kevion died. Loza and Sitko were the only adults present in Loza's townhouse the night before Kevion was found lifeless on the floor where he had been put to sleep.

Kevion suffered broken ribs, a fractured skull and numerous bruises before dying.

Loza and Sitko met on the Internet less than three months before Kevion was killed. After the meeting, Sitko traveled from her home in West Chicago to where Loza was living in Joliet about three nights a week to have sex with him. She would bring along both Kevion and her older son, Dillon, on her trips to Loza's place.

Loza moved to Plainfield prior to his arrest.

Judge Jones said she will decide next month whether to grant Loza a new trial. He faces up to 100 years in prison if she rules against him.

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