Kathie LaFond was arrested for driving on a suspended license the night her son, Michael Langford Junior, was killed. Police took her into custody and let her boyfriend at the time, Cecil Conner, get behind the wheel with the child in back seat last May. Forty minutes later, Conner, who had been drinking, crashed into a tree in Steger, killing the boy.
LaFond, who has filed a civil suit, was called as a life-and-death witness by the prosecution Wednesday. She is expected to be called back by the defense.
"It is a requirement in a homicide case that there be testimony that the individual was alive previous and later deceased," Jeff Tomzak, Conner's attorney, said.
"We believe that the officer is the nuts and bolts of the case. He is the reason Conner got behind the wheel a few minutes before the crash," Tomzak said.
LaFond said she also blames the officer.
"The most important thing to them is that this young man is not here any longer," said
