Illinois babysitter charged with stabbing 2 young girls is denied pretrial release

WHEATON, Ill. (AP) — A suburban Chicago woman accused of stabbing two girls ages 4 and 1 while babysitting them has been denied pretrial release by a judge. Fifty-one-year-old Jennifer Kouchoukos of Naperville is charged with two counts each of attempted first-degree murder, aggravated battery to a child under 13 and aggravated battery with a deadly weapon. Prosecutors and police said in a joint news release Wednesday that officers responding to a call about a suicide attempt Nov. 17 at the girls’ home in Lisle found one girl in the kitchen and the other in a bathroom, both covered in blood. Authorities say Kouchoukos also was in the bathroom and soaked in blood.