Paragraph 13 reads: ""He told me he was feeling crazy" and said he had consumed whisky, smoked marijuana, and taken cough syrup and an anti-depressant medication called Paxil just prior to the shooting, John Rycek testified."

COURT SHOWN 2 SIDES OF BOY, 14, CHARGED IN KILLING MOM
Chicago Tribune
March 11, 1995
Author: Joseph Sjostrom, Tribune Staff Writer.
Estimated printed pages: 2

"For my hero, I chose my mother. Her name is Susan," wrote Michael Rycek in September 1992 when he was 11 years old.

"My mother always takes care of me and makes sure I am OK," he wrote, apparently as part of a school assignment

The words were so touching that Susan Rycek framed the page they were written on and hung it on her bedroom wall, according to a prosecutor's arguments Friday in Cook County juvenile court, where Michael, now 14, is facing charges in the death of his mother.

On Jan. 2, Michael allegedly shot and killed his mother just a few feet from where the framed page hung on the second floor of the Ryceks' Elk Grove Village home.

"She was a bitch. I had to kill her," he allegedly explained with a sneer to police the following day.

Those conflicting parts of Michael Rycek's nature emerged from testimony and arguments before Circuit Judge John W. Rogers at a hearing to determine whether Rycek will be tried in juvenile court or adult court.

Assistant Cook County State's Attorneys Michael Oppenheimer and Marci Jacobs have requested the case be transferred to adult court. Rycek's attorneys, Ernest R. Blomquist and Lauren Edidin, asked Rogers to leave the case in juvenile court.

The judge said he would announce his ruling on March 21.

If tried and convicted in adult court, Michael Rycek would be sentenced to prison for 20 to 60 years. If convicted as a juvenile, he could be placed on probation or held in custody until age 19.

He is now being held in the Audy Juvenile Home, 1100 S. Hamilton Ave., Chicago.

On Friday, Michael's father, John A. Rycek, testified on his son's behalf, saying Michael seemed well-adjusted and achievement-oriented until age 11, when John and Susan began divorce proceedings.

He said he asked Michael about the killing during his first visit with the boy in the Audy Home on Jan. 4.

"He told me he was feeling crazy" and said he had consumed whisky, smoked marijuana, and taken cough syrup and an anti-depressant medication called Paxil just prior to the shooting, John Rycek testified.

The father said he and Susan Rycek argued loudly and for hours at a time about child custody in front of their two sons, Michael and Daniel.

Their relationship apparently remained contentious after their divorce. John Rycek said that a few days before the killing, he balked at using his health insurance coverage for psychiatric treatment that Susan wanted for Michael.

He said Susan telephoned him at work regarding a psychiatric appointment she had made for Michael the following day.

"She told me if I cared about my son I'd be there at 9 a.m. the next day, and then she hung up," he testified
Edition: NORTHWEST SPORTS FINAL
Section: NEWS
Page: 5
Index Terms: COOK COUNTY; COURT; DECISION; JUVENILE; SHOOTING; MURDER; PARENT
Record Number: CTR9503110122

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COURT SHOWN 2 SIDES OF BOY, 14, CHARGED IN KILLING MOM