Overview
- Sarah Safranek pleaded guilty to first-degree murder and was sentenced in Ogle County to 35 years in prison, followed by three years of mandatory supervised release.
- Judge Anthony Peska said the prison term will be fully served before supervised release, according to reports from the sentencing hearing.
- Prosecutors said Safranek suffocated her son, Nathaniel Burton, on Feb. 17, 2021; police responded to the family’s Oregon, Illinois home and the child was later pronounced dead at a hospital.
- Court filings state the boy had told relatives since 2018 that his mother held pillows over his face and tried to drown him, saying she would not let him breathe.
- The child’s paternal grandmother said she contacted Illinois DCFS several times without reaching anyone, and investigators documented Safranek’s internet searches from 2020 reflecting thoughts of killing her child and questions about probes after a child’s death; she withdrew a 2024 guilty plea before ultimately pleading guilty again.