Bat Beating Suspect's Father Comes To Her Defense

Published May 4, 2010 at 10:30 p.m.

Marcy Cruz The father of Marcy Cruz, the female half of the couple being held in the late-April bat beating of two women in Bucktown, has come to her defense, saying Cruz is mentally ill and was off her prescribed medication. Saying that his daughter is bipolar, Edwin Cruz put a lot of the blame on Heriberto Viramontes, the man accused of wielding the bats in the attack: "This guy, well, he was a manipulator. He's good with ladies, he's got sweet talk, he's got green eyes, he's pretty boy." Both Cruz and Viramontes have been charged with aggravated battery and armed robbery for the attacks. "It's very sad. It hurts all of us," said Edwin. "(But) I don't think she should be (incarcerated). … She's not all there in her mind."

News of the attack has stretched across the Atlantic because one of its victims, Natasha McShane, was a graduate exchange student from Ireland attending UIC. McShane remains in a drug-induced coma at Northwestern Memorial Hospital. The other victim, Stacy Jurich, was not as badly injured and has been recovering, having been released from the hospital last week.

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