The Orange County Criminal Lawyer Blog
A 15-year-old girl has been accused of abandoning her newborn into a dumpster on a day that was recorded as reaching temperatures over 100 degrees.
On Tuesday, a teenage girl in Stockton gave birth to a 6-pound 7-ounce baby boy.
Just before noon, a man who lived in an apartment complex heard sounds resembling those of a crying baby or a kitten, and he believed they were coming from an area outside where a dumpster was located.
The tenant told the apartment complex manager what he thought he heard. When inspecting the reported crying, they went out into the recorded 102-degree heat and followed the sound down an alley to the area with the garbage bin designated for use for the apartment’s inhabitants.
A black bag was seen inside the dumpster and appeared to be moving. The men made their way toward the wiggling object and spotted a newborn boy that had been swaddled in a blanket in the bag that had been put into the dumpster.
The apartment manager climbed inside of the bin, which was reportedly given shade from a nearby tree. He retrieved the child, who still had the umbilical cord attached, and held him until the authorities arrived.
EMT’s took the infant to the hospital while the police searched for the person responsible for what appeared to be an abandonment of the newborn.
When they were looking inside of the apartment complex they located the teen who had given birth to the boy and brought her to the hospital for medical treatment. It was assumed that after she birthed the child, she was the party responsible for placing the infant in the trash.
No one who was questioned at the apartment building seemed to think that the teenager was living in the building, and the police were unable to find out why the girl was at the location during the initial investigation.
The infant, who is reportedly in good health and doing well, is in the custody of Child Protective Services.
The young mother was cited, and it is expected that she will face charges for allegations of felony child endangerment, and felony child abuse. When she is well enough to leave the hospital it has been ordered that she return to her home with her parents for the time being.
If you or someone you love is suspected of child abuse, contact Orange County criminal defense lawyer Staycie R. Sena at (949) 477-8088 for a consultation now.