Dead Child's Homer Glen Parents Don't Have To Stay In Jail: Judge

JOLIET — After spending two months inside the Will County Jail facing felony child endangerment charges following the death of his 2-year-old daughter Trinity, 49-year-old Homer Glen business owner Edward Weiher walked out of the Will County Jail around 6 p.m. Monday.

Weiher's release from detention was made possible because of the persistence of his private criminal defense lawyer, downtown Joliet's Cosmo Tedone. In November, Tedone was retained to represent both Weiher and his girlfriend Alexa Balen in connection with the criminal charge they face after the death of their daughter.

According to this week's ruling, Will County Judge Vince Cornelius granted Tedone's motion for relief subject to home detention and electronic monitoring for Weiher, who lives in a million-dollar home on West Thorn Apple Drive.

"Upon being released, Mr. Weiher must appear to the pretrial services and must immediately obtain a drug and alcohol evaluation and comply with all recommended treatment," the judge instructed.

Cornelius' order goes on to explain that Weiher, "is prohibited from having any contact with any children under the age of 18." In the case of Balen, 28, she was ordered to go to an inpatient treatment facility upon her release from the Will County Jail.

Cosmo Tedone Outlines Arguments For His Clients' Release

Before Monday's court ruling that went in his favor, Tedone filed a motion indicating that his clients Weiher and Balen called 911 after their 2-year-old child stopped breathing. After failed attempts to revive the child, she died.

"The conditions of the home were in question," Tedone wrote. "The child in question was previously taken by the Department of Child and Family Services and placed with the maternal grandmother, who eventually left the child in the care of the defendants. There was (another) child who was also in the care and custody of DCFS, who now has been placed in foster care.

"It was evident that the defendants may have been drug addicts," Tedone wrote regarding his clients. "It was further found that the child had heroin and fentanyl in her system, although the coroner has not come back with a report. Moreover, it was learned that the remaining child of Ms. Balen is now in foster care and not residing with the defendants."

The judge's ruling acknowledged the fact that Weiher and Balen are charged with a detention-eligible offense.

As of Tuesday afternoon, the Will County Jail logs still had Balen listed as an inmate.

The Homer Glen parents are also charged with two counts of unlawful possession of a controlled substance, cocaine and heroin. A fourth charge, endangering the life or health of a child, accuses Balen of providing an unsafe living conditions for her other daughter, who is 6.

On Nov. 14, Will County's prosecutors noted that Trinity was dying from the apparent drug overdose for approximately four hours before Weiher and Balen finally called 911. The call to 911 was made at 11:27 p.m. Balen used her phone to make her first Google search seeking information on how to stop an overdose at 7:46 p.m., according to prosecutors.

Related Joliet Patch coverage:

$1M Trust Fund House Of Terror: Dad Denied Pretrial Release In Toddler's Death

Toddler Dies In Filthy Home, Parents Had Cocaine, Heroin: Sheriff