A Batavia woman accused of trying to kill her 10-year-old daughter in a murder-suicide attempt has been ordered to submit to evaluations designed to test her emotional fitness to stand trial.
Brenda Barnett, 36, is charged with a number of felony offenses, including attempted murder. In October, police allege, Barnett forced her daughter to take pain-relieving medication designed to relax the child to the point where her mother could slash her wrists.
She then planned to kill herself, police said, but the plan was foiled when Barnett apparently passed out from medication she had taken.
Kane County Circuit Judge John Petersen ordered the tests this week. Barnett is being held in Kane County Jail. The child, who was hospitalized briefly after the incident, is staying with relatives.