In a case a judge called “pure violence,” a Logan Square mother stands accused of stabbing her three children—killing her 4-year-old son—and then setting their apartment on fire while the kids lay wounded inside. Prosecutors say Tolbert believed her children were possessed by the devil and needed to die.
Wendy Tolbert, 46, appeared in court Sunday afternoon on a raft of felony charges including first-degree murder, attempted murder, aggravated arson, and aggravated battery. Cook County Judge James Murphy III ordered her detained pending trial, calling her a threat not only to her family, but to her neighbors and first responders.
The crime unfolded early Friday morning in the family’s home on the 3600 block of West Palmer Street…