Arraignment of mother postponed

Arraignment of mother postponed

JAIL: The woman accused of killing her daughter says she's a good parent, as the inquiry continues.

February 6, 2004

JOHN F. BERRY

The Press-Enterprise

RANCHO CUCAMONGA - A Big Bear City woman arrested on suspicion of murdering her 4-year-old daughter said from jail Friday night that she is a good parent.

"I'm a good mom," she said.

Gill, 47, declined further comment in a visiting room at the West Valley Detention Center in Rancho Cucamonga, where she is being held without bail. She is suspected of killing Lillian Leilani Gill, who was last seen in March 2002.

Gill's ex-husband, Neil Comfort, 61, said by phone from his home in Oregon that Gill had a 2-year-old girl, Allison, when they were married in 1979.

"She spoiled her, really," Comfort said by phone. "She was a good mother to her. At Christmas, she would want to get her the best."

Comfort said he does not understand how the woman he divorced more than a dozen years ago could be arrested on suspicion of killing the girl.

Gill was arrested Wednesday at her daughter's home in Orange County after San Bernardino County sheriff's investigators were told that she had killed her daughter.

San Bernardino County sheriff's spokesman Chip Patterson said Friday that detectives are still investigating her current husband, John.

"At least one friend told us that Sharon admitted to killing her daughter," Patterson said. "The child is nowhere to be found. No one can verify she's alive."

Patterson said a second person also told officials that Gill had admitted killing the girl.

Gill told investigators that she had sent Lillian to a special school in Milan, Italy, where she was being treated for autism. Sheriff's officials, working with U.S. State Department investigators, were unable to find evidence that Lillian had left the country.

"The parents were uncooperative," Patterson said. "We don't have any reason to believe there was anything wrong with the child."

James Gill, 4, was removed from the Gill home on East San Anselmo Drive about one week before Sharon Gill's arrest Wednesday. Patterson said there were no indications that the Gills' son had been abused.

John Gill, Sharon Gill's third husband, could not be reached for comment. His attorney, Fritzie Galliani, also could not be reached for comment.

Sharon Gill appeared in a San Bernardino courtroom Friday, but her arraignment was postponed until Feb. 20 so that her lawyer, Richard Moss, could study the case. He said he expects his client will plead innocent.

"We're talking about law-abiding, responsible members of the Big Bear community," he said.

Moss said court documents indicate officials believe the girl was killed sometime between Jan. 1, 2002, and Sept. 30, 2002.

Moss said James' condition is proof that Sharon Gill was a good parent. He declined to comment about specifics.

Reach John F. Berry at (909) 806-3058 or jberry@pe.com