Lonika Welch / Photo from Chicago Police
BY MICHAEL LANSU
Homicide Watch Chicago Editor
A South Chicago woman was sentenced to five years in prison this month for the January 2013 stabbing death of her mother at their South Side home.
Lonika Welch, 27, was initially charged with first-degree murder for the Jan. 6, 2013 stabbing death of 55-year-old Angela Welch at their home in the 8300 block of South Kingston Avenue, authorities said.
Emergency crews found Angela Welch stabbed multiple times inside the home and an autopsy ruled the death a homicide, authorities said.
The charges were later reduced to second-degree murder, and Judge James B. Linn found her guilty of the lesser offense on Nov. 12, 2014, according to court records. It was not immediately known why the charges were reduced.
Linn sentenced her to five years in prison on Jan. 7.
Lonika Welch had been held at Cook County Jail on $500,000 bond and was given credit for 733 days served, according to court records.
She was admitted to the Logan Correctional Center in downstate Lincoln on Jan. 14 and is projected to be paroled on June 24, according to the Illinois Department of Corrections.