FAYETTE COUNTY, IL — A 50-year-old Vandalia man was found guilty Tuesday in Fayette County Court of aggravated domestic battery in a 2017 case accusing him of causing his wife’s spinal injuries, and ultimately, paralysis.

According to Fayette County State’s Attorney Josh Morrison, Gregory M. Hill was charged on August 21, 2017, with aggravated domestic battery stemming from a domestic incident that left his wife Heather Hill paralyzed from the neck down.

On September 13, 2017, that offense was elevated to the charge of Attempted First Degree Murder and two additional counts of Aggravated Domestic Battery were later filed.

On Tuesday, a Bench Trial was held in Fayette County Court. After testimony that included medical personnel and a deposition of the victim was read aloud in the courtroom, the presiding judge found Hill guilty on the offense of Aggravated Domestic Battery. The charge stated the defendant knowingly caused permanent disability to Heather Hill in that he struck her on or about the neck and in doing so caused her paralysis.

Hill’s conviction of the Class 2 felony could carry a sentence of 3-7 years in the Department of Corrections.

A sentencing hearing has been set for August 5.