Former Mokena Resident Found Guilty Of Assaulting Mother-In-Law

MOKENA, IL — A 36-year-old woman who was arrested in Mokena in 2019 will be sentenced on Friday after she was found guilty of the aggravated assault of her mother-in-law after she knocked her out of bed in a drunken attack, Will County prosecutors announced on Thursday.

Nicole Vieni, who now lives in Chicago, was found guilty of the charges by a Will County jury on Wednesday. Veini was convicted of the aggravated assault of a senior citizen, domestic violence and interfering with the reporting of domestic violence, State’s Attorney James Glasgow announced.

Prosecutors said that Vieni’s mother-in-law, who was 78 at the time of the incident, was living with Veini when the abuse occurred, Glasgow said. Prosecutors said that the woman was in her bed in her locked bedroom when Vieni — who was intoxicated at the time — broke through the door and struck the victim several times, knocking her to the floor.

Vieni then took her mother-in-law’s phone and called 911, alleging that she had been struck by the victim and seeking permission to hit her back, prosecutors said. Vieni admitted on the 911 call that she already had hit the victim. When the police arrived, Vieni was still at the home and her mother-in-law was lying on her bedroom floor unable to get up, according to prosecutors. Vieni’s 5-year-old twin girls also were in the home at the time the abuse occurred.

Glasgow reported that the National Council on Aging estimates that approximately one in 10 Americans aged 60 and over have experienced some form of elder abuse. In almost 60 percent of elder abuse and neglect incidents, the perpetrator is a family member. Two-thirds of perpetrators are adult children or spouses, Glasgow said.