CHICAGO -- A 23-year-old woman accused of killing three Chicago musicians by ramming her car into another vehicle at a Skokie intersection last week did not make a scheduled court appearance Wednesday because she was still being treated at a Cook County Jail health facility, her attorney said.
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Dozens of supporters of both Jeanette Sliwinski and the three men killed poured into the Skokie Courthouse, expecting Sliwinski to make her first appearance in court since the Thursday crash at Niles Center Road and Dempster Street.
But defense attorney Thomas Needham said he was informed Sliwinski was still undergoing treatment at the Cermak Health Services in the Cook County Jail complex, and authorities were unable to transport her to court for "physical and mental reasons."
Sliwinski, of Morton Grove, was charged with three counts of first-degree murder and two counts of aggravated battery in the crash, which killed Michael Dahlquist, 39, John Glick, 35, and Douglas Meis, 29, all of Chicago.
Prosecutors said Sliwinski was suicidal and driving her Ford Mustang faster than 70 mph when she intentionally rammed the 2001 Honda Civic the men were in as it was stopped at a red light.
Two people in a third car were slightly injured in the ensuing chain-reaction crash.
Sliwinski suffered a leg injury and underwent surgery at St. Francis Hospital in Evanston before being transferred to Cermak on Tuesday, Needham said.
Outside the courtroom where Sliwinski had been scheduled to appear, the defendant's brother, Robert Sliwinski, choked up as he issued a short statement to reporters.
"We are truly deeply sorry for what happened on that horrible, horrible day," Robert Sliwinski said. "We pray for the family and friends of the victims."
"I am very sorry for all of the families who lost their friends and who lost their sons," said Ursula Sliwinski, Jeanette's mother. "We pray every day for the families and also for our daughter."
The comments came after Needham released a statement from the defendant over the weekend saying, "I pray and beg for forgiveness from everyone who is saddened by the deaths."
But Dahlquist's two older brothers said Wednesday there were no words that could atone for the "selfishness" and "insanity" of Jeanette Sliwinski's actions.
"I'm not going to offer her forgiveness. No way," Stuart Dahlquist said, shaking his head. "No way."
Asked what he thought would be the appropriate punishment for the defendant, Stuart Dahlquist said, "Throw away the key."
Sliwinski, who was being held without bond, was rescheduled to appear for a preliminary hearing during the 9 a.m. call Aug. 5 in Skokie Court.
Needham said he was considering arguing for a reasonable bond for his client at that hearing.
Needham said that contrary to some reports that the defendant had quarreled with her mother, Ursula Sliwinski, shortly before the crash, he knew of no such incident.
He said Ursula Sliwinski followed her daughter after hearing her pull out of the driveway because she "had a sick feeling in her heart that something was wrong."
Ursula Sliwinski happened upon the accident scene moments later, finding her daughter's Mustang upside down in the middle of the intersection, Needham said.
Needham said he could not comment on the specifics of his client's mental state because he has been "unable to have a normal conversation" with her.
"She's stunned. She cries quite a bit, and she just can't believe that this has happened," Needham said, adding that both times he has visited with her she has been restrained in her hospital bed.
Jeannette Sliwinski was unemployed and had previously done part-time modeling for a Chicago agency, Needham said.
Dahlquist, of the 4800 block of South Ashland Avenue, and Glick, of the 2800 block of West Palmer Street, were taken to Rush North Medical Center in Skokie, where they were pronounced dead at 1:14 p.m. and 3 p.m. Thursday, respectively, according to a Cook County medical examiner's office representative.
Meis, of the 4500 block of North Lincoln Avenue, was pronounced dead at St. Francis Hospital in Evanston at 12:49 p.m. Thursday.
All three men killed were musicians, according to a friend, Tim Midgett.
Midgett, a member of the rock band Silkworm, said Dahlquist was the band's drummer and that he, Glick and Meis worked together at a music store in Skokie.
All three were "really top-flight guys," Midgett added.
Dahlquist's friend, Steve Albini, wrote in a letter given to reporters Wednesday that how the men died was "tragic and stupid," but it was more important to remember how they lived.
"Michael enjoyed literally everything that ever happened to him," Albini wrote. "Everything was a marvel to him -- a moment of discovery, of novelty and insight to be celebrated with an open-mouthed laugh."
Another Dahlquist brother, Adam Dahlquist, said outside court Wednesday he hoped his family could eventually recover from the loss, but would never be able to make sense of what happened.
"You hope for some sort of reason. Is there a motive? Is there a good guy? Is there a bad guy?" Adam Dahlquist said. "In this case there is none of that. It's just completely off the charts of nonsense and insanity."
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