Sentencing set in torture killing of developmentally impaired mother

EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. — An Illinois woman awaits sentencing in the murder of a pregnant, developmentally impaired mother who police say was beaten with a plunger handle, burned with a hot glue gun and used for target practice with a BB pistol.

Thirty-seven-year-old Michelle Riley pleaded guilty in October to first-degree murder in the death of 29-year-old Dorothy Dixon.

Riley faces between 30 and 45 years in prison, and she’s scheduled to be sentenced Friday.

Investigators in Madison County say Dixon was a mother with a childlike mind and another baby on the way when she was found dead in January 2008 at a house in Alton.

Four other people, including three teenagers, await trial on first-degree murder charges.

Riley’s teenage son has been sentenced as a juvenile to probation.

Read the original article from WBBM News Radio.