Inmate Name: Rebecca Bivens

Charge: Murder

Sentence: Life in Prison ? reduced to 40 years

Prison: Dwight Correctional Center, Illinois

Rebecca Bivens was raised in the small community of Streator, Illinois.

Her father worked for a glass manufacturer and her mother was active in the Baptist Church. From a young age, she had frequent mood swings in which she cried a lot and felt hopeless. By the time she was 18, Rebecca was married and soon gave birth to a daughter. 21 months later, Rebecca got divorced and married Larry Muller with whom she had three more children. Rebecca said the relationship just felt right but admits that her mental instability created friction with her second husband. Rebecca remembers going through emotional highs and then suffering through the lows. At age 25, she abruptly walked out on her family and disappeared for months. When her family found her she was admitted to a hospital for a psychiatric evaluation.

Diagnosed with bipolar disorder and borderline personality disorder, she was prescribed medication and sent home. But Rebecca claims she felt the medication prevented her from functioning as well as she would have wished. She stopped taking the pills and would sink into severe depressions. Subsequent hospitalizations over the next four years did not seem to prevent additional manic-depressive episodes. In 1995, Rebecca again divorced; her four children went to live with relatives, while, Rebecca continued on her self-destructive path.

After a third failed marriage that lasted 11 months, Rebecca met her fourth husband Chad Bivens in 1996. She soon found herself in another marriage she claims had incidences of domestic disturbances. Rebecca says she again did not take her meds because she felt she could deal better with her husband?s alleged temper without them. She did enjoy taking care of her husband?s five-year old daughter Dani. On November 17^th, 1998, for Rebecca, the day began stressfully. Based on Rebecca?s statement to police, when little Dani started taunting Rebecca, she flew into an unstoppable rage and brutally injured the little girl. Despite doctors? effort to save her, little Dani never recovered. Rebecca insists to this day, that she has no memory of the details of the beating. Nor does she remember confessing to the police. Rebecca was arrested and charged with murder. She was convicted and sentenced to life in prison. An appeal reduced her time to 40 years.

Shortly after Dani?s death, a child advocacy center was named for her and another child who was a victim of abuse. It is called the Dani-Brandon Center. Rebecca still struggles with the terrible crime she committed that morning.