Defense attorneys subpoena father of 7-year-old who prosecutors say was killed by his mother in 2021

OREGON – Defense attorneys for an Oregon woman accused of killing her 7-year-old son in 2021 have subpoenaed the boy’s father seeking any items he may have in connection with the case.

Sarah Safranek, 36, is charged with five counts of first-degree murder and one count of aggravated battery in the February 2021 suffocation death of her 7-year-old son, Nathaniel Burton. An autopsy showed the boy also had a ruptured liver.

She has pleaded not guilty to all charges.

On Wednesday, Bryan Burton, 37, Nathaniel’s father, appeared in court for Safranek’s status hearing, saying it was unclear as to why he was ordered to appear in court.

Ogle County Public Defender Michael O’Brien told Judge John Redington that Burton had been subpoenaed to ask for any items he may have in connection with the case.

“You received a subpoena but you don’t understand it?” Redington said. “It is asking you to provide certain records if you have them.”

Burton said he had been too busy with work to read through the entire subpoena.

“I only skimmed the first page before I came here,” Burton said.

A copy of the subpoena was not included in court documents available to the public.

Redington told Burton that he had 30 days to comply with the subpoena.

“If you are in possession of items, present them to the defense either electronically or physically,” Redington said. “If you are not in possession of anything, tell them that.”

Burton told Redington that his phone was seized during the investigation.

“You still have to respond,” Redington said.

Ogle County State’s Attorney Mike Rock said Burton is a witness for the state, but he offered to help Burton understand and comply with the subpoena.

“He is our witness. We can’t represent him, but we will sit down with him,” Rock said.

Redington ordered Burton to respond to each of the items in the subpoena to the Ogle County Public Defender’s Office by Jan. 13. The next hearing in the case was set for 1 p.m. Jan. 24.

Rock and his assistant Matthew Leisten did not object to the continuance.

“Respondent Burton is not required to appear if he has provided the above responses,” Redington wrote in his order.

Wednesday’s hearing was scheduled during a Nov. 22 hearing in which O’Brien told the court he had received a written report reviewing Safranek’s mental fitness but needed time to review it.

“We reviewed it, but now we have a secondary issue,” he said Wednesday, referring to the subpoena.

Jayne Braden, a forensic and clinical psychologist in Sycamore, was the court-appointed expert who conducted Safranek’s first evaluation when she was charged. On Nov. 3, 2022, Redington ruled that Safranek was fit to stand trial after reviewing the mental health evaluation requested by the defense.

Earlier this year, Redington denied O’Brien’s request to hire additional medical experts for Safranek, despite O’Brien’s argument that Safranek has “a long history as to past mental health care” and that those health issues are “directly connected to her defense.”

Defense attorneys asked Redington to approve an additional expert to “review and evaluate mental health records” of Safranek, including her condition at the time of the alleged crime.

They argued that extensive mental health records were provided by the state and revealed a “substantial history of mental health issues, mental illness and related services.”

Redington only agreed to have Braden review Safranek’s history of “mental health issues.”

Safranek has been held in the Ogle County Correctional Center on $2 million bond since her arrest in April 2021. She appeared remotely via video from the Ogle County Correctional Center for Wednesday’s hearing.

In October, O’Brien filed a motion seeking Safranek’s release from jail under the SAFE-T Act because of her “inability” to post the required 10%, or $200,000, of the $2 million bond.

The court found Safranek to be indigent in 2021 after she filed affidavits regarding her finances.

The motion follows passage of the state’s SAFE-T Act, which was upheld by the Illinois Supreme Court and took effect Sept. 18. The law eliminates cash bail and requires that a defendant be released unless a judge rules that the defendant is a highly likely flight risk or poses too much of a threat to one person or the community to allow release.

Safranek has claimed that she has mental and physical issues that are not being treated properly at the jail, including daily headaches and frequent facial numbness; frequent muscle spasms in her arms and legs; excessive fatigue and weakness; frequent chest pains; frequent pain between her shoulder blades; worsening vision problems, including worsening blurred vision and floaters; worsening balance issues; and worsening numbness in one or more fingers.

In the motion asking for her pre-trial release, the defense argued that she is not getting sufficient medical attention while in custody.

Prosecutors argued against Safranek’s release, saying among other things that she is a danger to the Ogle County community and has “a history of substance abuse and psychiatric issues.”

Redington denied the defense’s pre-trial release motion in November and again Wednesday, noting that he had considered all factors in the first-degree murder case and that her pre-trial release would be a “real and present threat to the community.”

Redington again told Safranek that she could appeal his decision within 14 days of Wednesday’s hearing.

Nathaniel, a first-grade student at Oregon Elementary School, was found unresponsive and not breathing about 2:30 a.m. Feb. 17, 2021, in his bed at his home in the 400 block of South 10th Street. He was pronounced dead later that day at KSB Hospital in Dixon.

Safranek was arrested April 21, 2021, and indicted May 4, 2021. She pleaded not guilty May 6, 2021.

According to records obtained by Shaw Local News Network in a Freedom of Information Act request, the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services visited the Safranek/Burton household about a dozen times over two years, following up on five reports of suspected abuse and neglect.

Each time, DCFS closed the case after finding no indications of parental wrongdoing.

Nathaniel was 4 when the allegations first surfaced.