A YOUNG WOMAN IS SERVING A 31-YEAR MURDER SENTENCE FOR A CRIME SHE SAYS SHE DIDN'T COMMIT - WHY DID SHE CONFESS?

"48 HOURS: BLAMING MELISSA" INVESTIGATES THE CASE AGAINST A DAY CARE WORKER CHARGED WITH KILLING A TODDLER

SATURDAY, FEB. 28, 2015

A young Illinois woman is sitting in prison today for a crime she swears she didn't commit. If that's the case, why did the day care worker confess to killing a toddler?

Erin Moriarty and 48 HOURS investigate the case against Melissa Calusinski, who was charged and convicted of killing a 16-month-old boy in her care at a suburban Chicago child care center in 2009, in "Blaming Melissa," to be broadcast Saturday, Feb. 28 (10:00 PM, ET/PT) on the CBS Television Network.

"I don't know exactly what happened to him," Calusinski tells 48 HOURS. "But I got blamed for it."

Calusinski's case examines the human emotions involved in interrogations, what happens after a confession, and what can happen when a key player in the investigation admits he made a life-altering mistake.

The story begins in 2009, when, according to Calusinski, young Ben Kingan started falling asleep when he should have been awake. Calusinski tried to wake him, but he was unresponsive. She called for help. Her sister, Crystal, began CPR. Ben died.

Two days later, Calusinski was brought to a police station for questioning. She was the last adult to see Ben alive, police told her. The toddler died from a blunt-force trauma to the head, they said. Calusinski was interrogated for nine hours. She never asked for a lawyer. Then she confessed to dropping the child in a way that may have led to a head trauma.

Why would she confess?

"I've never been in a situation like that, ever," Calusinski tells 48 HOURS. "I didn't even know what was going through my mind."

Calusinski was tried and convicted of murder, largely on the fact that she confessed, and that the Lake County, Ill., Medical Examiner's report said the child suffered from fresh injuries to his head consistent with what she said happened in her confession.

"I believe we had sufficient evidence to show that she, in fact, killed Benjamin that day," says Assistant District Attorney Stephen Scheller.

Calusinski's family vowed to fight for her freedom. Her father persuaded a newly elected coroner to take a fresh look at the initial autopsy findings.

"I just couldn't believe what I was seeing," says Lake County Coroner Dr. Thomas Rudd. "I was shocked, stunned."

Could Rudd's findings change Calusinski's fate? Chicago attorney Kathleen Zellner believes Calusinski was wrongfully convicted. Zellner specializes in wrongful convictions and successfully fought for the release of Ryan Ferguson, a Missouri man convicted of killing a local newspaper sports editor. Ferguson was freed from prison after 13 appeals.

"The end goal is to find out if this conviction has integrity," Zellner says. "I don't believe it does."

Moriarty and 48 HOURS piece together the incident and the case against Calusinski through interviews with Melissa; her father and sister; Zellner; Northwestern Prof. Deborah Teurkheimer; Assistant District Attorneys Stephen Scheller and Matthew DeMartini; District Attorney Michael Nerheim; Rudd; and newspaper reporter Ruth Fuller.

48 HOURS: "Blaming Melissa" is produced by Gail Abbott Zimmerman. Charlotte A. Fuller is the field producer. Judy Tygard is the senior producer. Susan Zirinsky is the senior executive producer.

Chat with members of the 48 HOURS team during the broadcast on Twitter and Facebook. Follow 48 HOURS on Instagram. Listen to 48HOURS podcasts at Play.it.