The News-Star has a Web Extra: By LORRAINE SWANSON, News-Star Editor
"A 15-year-old Uptown resident has been charged in the abandonment two months ago of the infant whom local firefighters named Baby Wilson.
"On Sunday, the teenager turned herself in to Area 3 detectives at Belmont and Western, where she was charged with one count each of attempted first-degree murder and aggravated battery.
"The infant was discovered early the morning of July 8 by a resident of the 4600 block of N. Beacon who heard crying in the courtyard of his apartment building. The man found a baby, wrapped in plastic bags, on the ground. He ran with the infant to the nearby Wilson and Racine fire station. Paramedics there worked on the baby and took him to Advocate Illinois Masonic Hospital, where he still is, recovering.
"Firefighters named the infant after their station.
"Belmont Area 3 Detective Jennifer Ryle found the mother by canvassing the Uptown neighborhood and reaching out through community Web sites.
"'She has been turned over to a juvenile detention center,' Officer Amina Greer of Police News Affairs said of Baby Wilson's mother."
The Tribune also reports on the story, ending with this news: "The infant is doing well at a local hospital."
We were happy to see both stories include a shout-out to Detective Jennifer Ryle, who was in touch with Uptown Update on a couple of occasions during her investigation. Her concern for Baby Wilson was heartfelt. We're delighted she was able to take the investigation to its conclusion.
Update: Click here for WBBM780's coverage of the story.
Update 2: The charges have been upgraded, according to WBBM780: "The mother -- whose name is withheld because of her age -- is charged with two counts of each of attempted first-degree murder and aggravated battery causing great bodily harm, according to Cook County State’s Attorney’s office spokeswoman Tandra Simonton said. "
I just can't imagine how scared and frightened this girl was. I think her decision to abandon the baby was all motivated by fear. I hope she gets the help she needs. I also wonder if her parents ever even realized she was pregnant. So sad.
ReplyDeleteFear, yes. And ignorance.
ReplyDeleteIt is good to see this girl being charged with serious crimes since her actions were nothing short of barbaric.
I hope she gets the help that she needs, but I also hope she gets that help isolated from the rest of civil society.
This is yet another example where our elected officials cannot be trusted to maintain the common good in our fair city.
Overseeing a failing education system which produces monsters like this (or a society which doesn't give kids incentive to learn) while diverting funds to "pet" projects is a horrific way to govern.
Kudos to Det. Ryle, the fireman and to a wonderful citizen for ensuring this tyke gets a chance at life instead of losing that chance in a plastic bag.
This incident should be a glaring example to our city council that if we don't teach the children well, the cycle of ignorance and dependency won't be broken.
Alas - Ald. Shiller remains mute on this point while her son perverts the zoning laws.
I wouldn't mind seeing some of the WYTIF be redirected towards giving children a chance at life instead of to people who seem to literally and figuratively take a crap on the rest of society.
This is good news. The first step is being able to confess to your actions.
ReplyDeleteNo mother is alone.
I feel very very sorry for this girl. I couldn't imagine being 15 and delivering a baby..
ReplyDeleteI do feel for the 15 year old mother. How could someone like this fall through the cracks in a neighborhood with the highest concentration of social services in the nation? (I don't remember from whence I got this statistic, but remember I found it credible.) The woman doesn't pose a threat to society. (What's she going to do...abandon me in the bushes?) She needs to be educated, couselled, and probably convinced to have macrame work done.
ReplyDeleteI she just dropped the baby off at the firehouse herself. She wouldn't have been charged with anything.
ReplyDeleteShe is charged with Attempt Murder for a reason. She should face these charges just like anyone else. She put a BABY IN PLASTIC BAG and left him for dead. If not for the quick actions of the man who rescued him, she would be charged with Murder. I personally feel ZERO sympathy or empathy for the girl, only the innocent child who she threw away like a piece of trash. I am sure the baby's father was devastated (kidding).
ReplyDeleteI would think it's more a case of child endangerment. An ignorant, foolish, possibly abused 15 year old (which is obvious because she was pregnant to begin with) probably couldn't even piece the logic together that leaving a new-born outside in a plastic bag would be lethal.
ReplyDeleteBradley, you have got to be joking!!??!! You are saying a 15-year old does not know the potential lethality of wrapping a newborn in a plastic bag and leaving it in the buses? Child endangerment? The baby would have died if not RESCUED by a good samaritan. That is like saying the 16-year gangbangers should be excused when they shoot each other. Who is to say that she was abused? Who is to say that she is not a conduct disordered gang member herself?
ReplyDeleteYou'll notice I didn't say anything as being definitive. I used words like "possibly" and "would think that". And I stand by my child endagerment argument. If she could reason that leaving the infant in a plastic bag near an apatrment would kill the infant, why would she have not suffocated the baby and thrown her in the trash. If the mother was part of a gang or those closely associated with a gang, this is further evidence that gangs have nothing to contribute to society.
ReplyDeleteFurthermore...most of the time these people can't string together a coherant sentance much less a string together an action reaction process.
ReplyDeleteBradley, why would you jump to the conclusion that "these people can't string together a coherant sentance much less a string together an action reaction process"? She had a baby, she didn't want it, she put it in a bag and threw it in the bushes. If she does not suffer from a psychotic illness, she is criminally responsible for her actions. Give me a break. Again, using this type of faulty bleeding heart logic, the gangbanger who shot the other gangbanger a few weeks ago might be excused from his actions. Maybe he had a bad life. Maybe he was a week minded follower. Who cares? He murdered someone, just like this girl tried to murder her child - albeit more passively.
ReplyDeleteBradley, you have got to be joking!!??!! You are saying a 15-year old does not know the potential lethality of wrapping a newborn in a plastic bag and leaving it in the buses?
ReplyDeleteyou'd be surprised at how "stupid" teenagers and even those older can be. I work at DCFS. I have heard stories of teen fathers punching their infant sons' in the stomach to make them tougher. I have heard of teen mothers pouring boiling water on their kids and surprised when the child died. Am I excusing this girl? no. But is it impossible to think that at 15 she didn't think that putting a kid in a plastic bag would kill it? You'd better believe it. She could have put it in the bag thinking that it would protect it from the elements. Or a million other reasons that seem stupid to us but made perfect sense to her. It's one thing to charge her with a crime, which abandoning a kid is. It's another to call her a "monster" and a "beast". Not everyone is as enlightened as you were at 15. Hell, there are tons of people older than that who should know better.
Article
Because I've heard them speak.
ReplyDeleteAs we've pointed out countless times on this blog, these people (notice how I specifically avoided the word "animal" Ron) don't think about the consequences of their actions.
Besides, had she gone to clinic a few hours (I don't know the specific law on this) earlier there'd be no discussion.
I am not saying that she intentionally tried to kill the baby, nor I am a saying that she did not. We do not know based on the minimal info published. But to use her age as a factor as to whether or not she could appreciate the lethality of her actions is clinically flawed. Just like all of the examples you gave of punching kids or pouring boiling water on them, people who do such "stupid" things should face criminal responsibility. The bleeding heart rationale for excusing people from heinous acts really boggles my mind.
ReplyDeleteBut to use her age as a factor as to whether or not she could appreciate the lethality of her actions is clinically flawed.
ReplyDeleteWhy can't her age be a factor? How is it "clinically flawed"? Please explain. So far I haven't seen any results here of a mental examination on her. Fifteen chronologically doesn't necessarily mean 15 mentally.
Just because these imbeciles do not think or care about the consequences of their actions does not mean that they should not face them 100% - be they legal, financial, or physical. When one of these scumbags (the gangbangers, not the girl) shoots a gun on a city street, they should face every possible consequence regardless of their self-centered inability to preemptively consider them.
ReplyDeleteI am not saying that she intentionally tried to kill the baby, nor I am a saying that she did not.
ReplyDeleteThen what are you saying? if you're saying she should be punished for her actions, well, she's going to be. If you're saying it's impossible for her know to have known what was going to happen, then we're going to disagree.
When one of these scumbags (the gangbangers, not the girl) shoots a gun on a city street, they should face every possible consequence regardless of their self-centered inability to preemptively consider them.
ReplyDeleteAgreed. I'm not making any excuses for gangbangers. I'm talking about a 15 year old girl who, for all intents and purposes, panicked. It is entirely possible she didn't think that putting the baby in the bag would kill it. But I'm not excusing her. As for the gangbanger, from me, no excuses.
Unless she is severely mentally retarded or was acutely psychotic (maybe she is, maybe she is not), she should face criminal responsibility. My reaction was to the default logic of some people to automatically excuse someone - especially a 15-year-old - of their actions. Particularly when those actions would have cost an innocent life if not for lucky citizen intervention.
ReplyDeleteI never advocated "excusing" her. I just don't want to throw a lot of tax-payer money at an extreme charge which will be plea-bargained down. Spend a couple grand, get the child endangerment conviction, met the punishment/rehabilitation and get on with it rather than spend ten of thousands, if not hundreds of thoudsands) pursuing the maximum charge (Co Jail, Court, DA, PD) to have it pled down to time served.
ReplyDeleteGood grief, people, such short collective memories we have! Wasn't it just a few years ago we were learning about "prom moms" and others who, for reasons only a mental-health expert can explain, are "surprised" to suddenly have a baby and, in a panic, try to cover up the "evidence?" Keep an open mind until we find out the circumstances of this poor girl's dilemma and the shocking (to us "normal" people anyway) way she dealt with it.
ReplyDeleteNot every girl-in-trouble has an "understanding" family like a certain Alaska politician's.
Gayle & MOTS..
ReplyDeleteKeep perverting social cituations, keep perverting law as you see it. Everything is gray in your worlds. Why do you think the second coming of Jesus finds himself down now in the polls? Sometimes things are what they are, ignorance, stupidity, & lack of respect.
Lets jab at the "Alaska politition" for trying to live life the right way. Are you that far left that right to choice continues after the baby is born?
To be blunt if this girl is smart enough to know male part goes in to female part she is smart enough to know baby in plastic bag dies.
Also, I recall this baby also suffered wounds to the face. Pardon me for not shedding a tear, after all I never got a thanks for paying her rent.
Chip, ya' might be overlooking the fact that the conception may not have been up to her.
ReplyDeleteIf that's the case, then there are deeper problems at play; but ..., regardless those deeper problems, I cannot find any justification, or rationalization for this girl doing what she did that doesn't require assistance and punishment.
Monster: any animal or human grotesquely deviating from the normal shape, behavior, or character.
That pretty well sums it up, to me.
Keep perverting social cituations, keep perverting law as you see it. Everything is gray in your worlds.
ReplyDeleteWell, since you're demonstrated that you don't like to read AND comprehend, I'll state it one more time. There is no gray when it comes to the law. I stated that she should be punished for her crime, which this is. As for the reason WHY she did it or her rational, that was the only thing in dispute.
To be blunt if this girl is smart enough to know male part goes in to female part she is smart enough to know baby in plastic bag dies.
Sez you. You don't know WHAT she knows and neither do I. I admitted speculation, you stated your half-assed theories as fact. Bad move. Any idiot can have a baby, and I see proof of it every day (ahem). Like I've said, I've seen warped logic in action. It's possible.
I thought about that when posting Yo, It just didn't reason with me.
ReplyDeleteIm not saying this girl should be fried, Im just not going to defend her thats all. Im not sure what kind of contributation (is that a word?) this young woman can bring to society when she has no regard for life.
It's not racial or economical, it seems to be generational.
Your right MOTS you hide your opinions by vauge statements..
ReplyDelete"But is it impossible to think that at 15 she didn't think that putting a kid in a plastic bag would kill it? You'd better believe it."
"You don't know WHAT she knows and neither do I...."
Then why did you post this MOTS??
"I'm talking about a 15 year old girl who, for all intents and purposes, panicked."
How do you know she panicked? Oh wait your..um what did you say..um..posting what you think she knows...SNAP!
Im not saying this girl should be fried, Im just not going to defend her thats all.
ReplyDeleteWho's defending her? You keep trying to paint me and some others as "bleeding hearts" for whatever reason when no one is "defending" her. Most of the people here say she should be punished for her actions. I say she should be punished. Where we differ is in what we think her reasons are. That's it. And you know what? It's all opinions. Yours. Mine. Everyone but hers. We're entitled to them, I though, but apparently if people don't want to call her a "monster" they're bleeding hearts? Give me a break.
"I'm talking about a 15 year old girl who, for all intents and purposes, panicked."
ReplyDeleteHow do you know she panicked? Oh wait your..um what did you say..um..posting what you think she knows...SNAP!
Oh, I don't know. 15... early in the morning... getting rid of a baby that was just born. Doesn't sound like the actions of a calm, rational person.
"Wow, I'd due any day now. Guess i better get the garbage bag ready and scout out a good bush. Oh, and gotta remember to set the alarm clock."
I stick by what I said... doesnt' sound like rational thinking by a 15 year old.
And SNAP? What are you, a teenage girl?
The defending comment was to Yo, not to you MOTS.
ReplyDeleteWithout making this a MOTS vs Chip posting my beef was that you felt the need to tell us we don't know what she was thinking and yet you feel she "panicked." Panic being a state of thought that per your own arguement we do not know.
And I stick by my teenage girl snap.
Without making this a MOTS vs Chip posting my beef was that you felt the need to tell us we don't know what she was thinking and yet you feel she "panicked."
ReplyDeleteWhich is why I said, for all intents and purposes, meaning that, as I saw it and as I read the facts, that was her reasonsing. AS I SAW IT. Never said anything as conclusive as you did.
Here's a thought... why don't we wait and see what the circumstances were first?
ReplyDelete-If she knew putting the baby in the bag would kill it - throw the book at her.
-If she was forced to do so by an abusive boyfriend - throw the book at him, and punish her for worrying more about herself than an innocent child.
-If she's mentally ill, and didn't understand that she was pregnant or whatever, - treat her accordingly.
Bottom line, until we have all the facts, we should all refrain from knee-jerk condemnations.
Yes, I think what she did was sick and unforgivable. The mom in me wants to go for her throat... but, I'll keep my claws to myself until I know what her sitch was.
Oh, and man on the street? Your examples of parents punching a baby or pouring boiling water? I don't buy their story that they didn't know what would happen. Hey, jackass, does it hurt you when someone punches you in the gut? How about when you pour boiling water on yourself... well, try being a baby and have that happen.
Lord, what a sick effin world we live in! Full of sick effin people.
Why Don't we all just give her a Big Group Hug.
ReplyDeleteSympathy and compassion are righteous, yes.
So is accountability of personal actions.
I think the article about the father punching his baby being used as an example of people not knowing right from wrong is a bad example.
ReplyDeleteIn this case, the article states that he originally said the baby fell from the bed, and only changed his story later after some (I'm guessing rather tough) questioning.
If the father lied about it, then he certainly knew what he was doing was wrong.
The baby was in THREE plastic bags, each one tied tightly closed (this was told to me directly by Brandon Shephard, who found the baby). Baby Wilson also had a long cut on his upper lip and some bruising on his thighs.
ReplyDeleteAs far as any further injuries... he's been hospitalized for more than two months. All but the first day of his life has been spent in the hospital. The charges against his mother are attempted murder and aggravated battery. Given the length of his hospitalization, I imagine there's a lot to this story we're not privy to.
I don't know what the 15-year-old girl has been through, and probably never will. But it's clear to me that Baby Wilson was not supposed to survive, and has done so against overwhelming odds.
No winners here, except the hope that Baby Wilson will recover fully and end up in a happy home. My heart breaks for both him and the 15-year-old girl who - for whatever reason - tried to murder her own child.
God bless them all! Now the girl can get the help she needs.
ReplyDelete"To be blunt if this girl is smart enough to know male part goes in to female part she is smart enough to know baby in plastic bag dies."
ReplyDeleteI couldn't help but to comment on this comment. Like said before how do you know that she wasn't sexually abused, forced to have sex. And not to mention mentally retarded people know how to have sex. It's human nature. Sex doesn't determine your intelligence level by any means.
amen dacutestmama. How many kids do you have again?
ReplyDeleteI doubt they would put a mentally retarded person on trial.
Being sexualy abused does not constitute abusing and then wrapping the kid up in three bags.
My point is not that she was mentally retarded. My point is that you can not measure her intelligence by the fact that she had sex because all living mammals do this instinctively.
ReplyDeleteSometimes it's important to read things more than once so you can get the full understanding.
And how many kids I have is none of your business and personally I never told you that I had any.
And once again I never said because she may have been abused it was okay for her to nelect her newborn baby. My point was that maybe she didn't choose to get pregnant. Maybe she was raped and her abuser got her pregnant. It happens all the time.
ReplyDeleteI can't stress this enough. Before you try to debate something and criticize, know what you're talking about. And re-read so you get the full understanding of what the person is saying that you are so thirsty to disagree with!