The woman accused of burning five children at a North Side daycare last year was found innocent Wednesday. She sat down exclusively with NBC 5 Friday to share her side of the story.
The jury trial lasted just one day and cleared the woman of all charges.
Last December, teacher Lizandra Cosme, brought a hot glue gun to her job at the children’s learning place in Logan Square. She planned to make crafts that day, instead, she made headlines.
She sat down exclusively with NBC 5 Friday to share her side of the story.
“It’s been chaotic," Cosme said. "I’ve lost pretty much everything thru this experience and it’s been psychologically pretty hard just because of other allegations."
Video from that day shows Cosme showing her class of 15 children the glue gun.
"It was just trying out something new to see how it works and for them to understand what was going on with the glue dispenser at this point," she said of the video.
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But five of the 15 were hurt by touching the hot tip. The extent of their injuries has been never been clear.
"I did not know at that moment they got hurt," Cosme said. "There was no sound. No pain. There was no crying, so I didn’t know."
Her attorney, Francis Baumgart, says the video paired with testimony from parents of some of those students in the class helped the jury see Cosme is not a criminal.
“It’s just her helping the kids," Baumgart said. "It’s not like she does something and he jerks back and runs or something. Or raises their arms like they were alleged to have done by people who were not there."
Cosme is the first to admit she lacked judgment, but never intended for anyone to get hurt.
"It was nerve-wracking to hear the closing arguments and know you’re not that person," she said. "You’re just a person that worked with children for 12 years that loves her career ... I refuse to let this determine who I am as a person."
She now plans to find a new job in teaching.
