Mom to be charged with dumping baby in lake

[Shell]

Mom to be charged with dumping baby in lake
20-year-old clerk gave birth at home, said she didn't want the child
AP Associated Press

updated 4:37 p.m. PT, Wed., Feb. 11, 2009
KENNER, La. - A 20-year-old woman accused of dropping her newborn baby girl into a lake told police she felt the infant's heart beating as she let the child slip from her hands into the brackish water.

"It's hard to believe," Kenner Police Chief Steve Caraway said on Wednesday. "This was a beautiful little girl, full term, a child that could have made someone very happy."

Ciara Craig, a sales clerk who lived in the New Orleans suburb of Metairie, will be charged with first-degree murder, Caraway said. Killing a child under 12 in Louisiana brings an automatic first-degree murder charge, which could result in the death penalty.

Craig, who gave birth at home on Tuesday, said she didn't want the child and had contemplated an abortion, but her pregnancy was too far along, Caraway said. She hid the pregnancy from her grandmother, with whom she lived.

"She said she was not ready to raise a baby," Caraway said. "She said it was the result of a one-night stand and she did not want it."

Craig admitted to police that she drove to the shore of Lake Pontchartrain north of New Orleans on Tuesday afternoon and walked to the water carrying a black bag, with her daughter in it. Witnesses told police she emptied its contents into the water, walked calmly back to her car and drove off. Craig turned herself in Tuesday night at the urging of family members.

Craig was in a hospital under police guard Wednesday undergoing treatment related to the delivery. Police said Craig did not have an attorney Wednesday afternoon. They would not divulge Craig's grandmother's name or the names of other family members.

'Too many other options'
She had received counseling on alternatives, Caraway said. But he was not sure if she knew about Louisiana's Safe Haven law, which allows people to drop off unwanted infants in safe places without being prosecuted.

"She should have brought the baby to a police station or hospital," he said. "There are too many other options for something like this to happen."

A day after the baby's body was pulled from the lake, the state Department of Social Services said it would launch a major public awareness campaign about the Safe Haven law. It will include outdoor advertising across the state, brochures and a new Web site, DSS Secretary Kristy Nichols said.

"We are going to make sure word gets out in churches and schools," she said. "This will be a major campaign."

Abandoned children
Under the law, a baby up to 31 days old may be left at any emergency care facility, such as a hospital or police station. The baby cannot be left unattended and must show no signs of abuse or neglect. The department may also seek to have churches added to the list of places an infant may be dropped off, Nichols said.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/29146681/

[Nut44x4]

This useless piece of shit deserves to fry, but she won't 

[Shell]

This useless piece of shit deserves to fry, but she won't 

It is especially upsetting because the article said she knew she had other options. I hate to think anyone who could do such a thing to her infant would ever get to walk free.

[Shell]

http://www.nola.com/news/t-p/metro/index.ssf?/base/news-33/123450636751850.xml&coll=1

Attorneys named for mom in baby's death
She will go from hospital to jail                                                 Friday, February 13, 2009 By Mary Sparacello Kenner bureau
The Metairie woman who admitted leaving her newborn daughter to die in Lake Pontchartrain remained in the hospital Thursday as two public defenders were assigned to her case.

After reviewing the arrest report on Ciara Craig, 21, and the probable cause affidavit against her, a 24th Judicial District Court commissioner ordered that indigent defenders be appointed for her, chief public defender Richard Tompson said. Letita Parker-Davis and Cesar Vazquez will represent Craig, Tompson said.

Craig remained in an unidentified hospital, guarded by a Jefferson Parish deputy, while she recovers from giving birth, authorities said. When she is jailed, she will not be entitled to bond because it's a first-degree murder case, Tompson said.

 
Witnesses called Kenner police Tuesday at 1:51 p.m. about a newborn, its umbilical cord still attached, "discarded" in Lake Pontchartrain, according to the arrest report that police released Thursday. Craig had given birth at 9 a.m. while she was at home alone, detective Brian McGregor said.

After she took the infant to the lake, she returned home, McGregor said. About 4:30 p.m. she disposed of her placenta in a commercial trash bin at a River Ridge apartment complex.

As police were investigating the discovery of the placenta, Craig arrived at the Police Department at 6:21 p.m., accompanied by her mother and aunt. She waived her Miranda rights and admitted giving birth and driving her car to the boat launch to abandon her daughter.

The probable cause affidavit said:

"Ciara Craig walked to the edge of the lake, placed a hand on the newborn's chest, felt the newborn's heart beating and then placed the newborn into the water. Ciara Craig stood at the edge of the lake and watched her newborn descend below the surface of the lake. Ciara Craig returned to her vehicle and waited approximately five minutes prior to leaving the area. At no time did Ciara Craig attempt to retrieve the newborn from the lake."