Anaheim teen arrested in death of abandoned newborn

Authorities have arrested a 19-year-old Anaheim woman in the death of a newborn girl who was found wrapped in plastic in a dumpster next to a Mexican restaurant in Stanton on Wednesday.

The woman, whose name is being withheld pending further investigation, is being treated at a hospital for the aftereffects of child birth.

A deputy is at her side, making sure she remains in custody until her medical release, said Jim Amormino, a spokesman for the Orange County Sheriff's Department.

Authorities found the woman when she entered a hospital for treatment Wednesday afternoon. She denied giving birth, but doctors alerted law-enforcement authorities when they concluded otherwise.

Anaheim police and sheriff's deputies hoped they would find the baby alive, but instead located the deceased infant just after 7 p.m. Wednesday in the dumpster in an alley next to the restaurant.

The woman had been dining at the restaurant Tuesday evening and may have given birth in the women's restroom, Amormino said. The baby was full-term and appeared to be healthy at the time of birth, he said.

Amormino said the crime was especially "senseless and barbaric" because women can legally surrender newborns "no questions asked" at a fire station or hospital, both of which were nearby.

-- Howard Blume

Comments

[Morgan]

I don't understand why this continues to happen. She was 19 years old.....an adult and had nobody to answer to as to why she had the baby. All she needed to do is give her to the hospital - now the baby is dead and she's going to end up in prison.

That child didn't deserve to be treated in that manner. RIP Baby Girl.....

[NSchwartz]

This baby deserved to live. Sad that this 19 year old did not put this baby up for adoption and bring happiness to a childless couple. Now she's probably lookong at prison. This situation could have been a joyous one.

[Julie Armstrong Psy.D.]

Shame on you. She is a teen in the headline but a woman in the article? Which is it? Which side are you on in reporting this story?

[jenn]

Dr. Julie Armstrong, Does it really matter how this mother was labeled in the article? I think not. Whether you refer to this young lady as a woman or as a teen, what she did was wrong. There are too many options that were available to her when she chose to discard her child as if she were trash and now she has not only ruined her life but that of a helpless infant. May God have mercy on her soul and wrap this baby in his ever loving arms. RIP little angel.

[pmg]

Julie, she is both a teen (aged 19) and a woman (over 18). Both uses are appropriate.

[CCAB]

Who cares about the reporting. What's important is that an infant lost their life over a careless issue. I am thinking these teens should be taught repeatedly that there are alternatives. If a girl seems to be pregnant it's up to us to stop for a second if she's thinking of doing something heinous as this.

[Tara]

no matter how young or old she is, what she did was inhumane. i can only wonder about the parents who fail to instill basic moral decency in their children.

[Jim Q. Citizen]

It's bad enough that an innocent, helpless baby has been murdered but the fact that it was killed by its own mother is incomprehensible. People who commit crimes like this need to be removed from society for a very long time.

[effen_what]

it is sad however sometimes teens are threatened by there parents if they have a kid because they cant afford it or dont want there kids having children. maybe she was scared of her parents. She could've been hiding the pregnancy too. i heard a story where a teens whole pregnancy was hidden from her parents until a call from the hospital. We need to better inform our teens of there options while pregnant because she obviously didn't know she could give her child to a fire station without question

[emm305]

These "surrender laws" are feel good laws by pandering politicians. Have they ever stopped this kind of thing from happening?

The women and girls who do this kind of thing are probably mentally ill, possibly sexually abused by a family member and obviously not thinking rationally.

[UNCLE BERNIE]

She needs to go bye bye for a couple of years and think about it.

[syscom3]

Woman like her need to have forced sterilizations so they wont ever repeat this type of mistake.

[Natalie]

This is so sad. Morgan, I was thinking the same thing. Why didn't she take her to the hospital?

[speakurmind]

I agree with syscom3. Just because you have a uterus and are able to give birth doesn't mean you're capable of being a mother. Those women who prove themselves unfit need to be steralized. That's the only way to save these poor babies from a brutally early demise.