The teen mother and father of the baby boy abandoned in an alley earlier this week have been charged with attempted murder.
The 16-year-old girl, who police determined was the baby’s mother, is charged with one count of first-degree attempted murder, Chicago police said. A 17-year-old boy is charged with the same crime.
The girl was released into her mother’s custody during her initial court hearing Friday morning at the Cook County Juvenile Center. The judge did not impose any restrictions or conditions for her to be released, according to Rajeev Bajaj, the girl’s private attorney.
Judge Stuart F. Lubin also released the boy into his father’s custody. He ordered him to stay away from the hospital where the baby is receiving treatment.
His mother, 37-year-old Karla L. Antimo, is charged with one felony count of false report of offense, authorities said. She admitted to investigators that the newborn is her grandson.
Prosecutors argued for a restraining order to prevent the father from coming into contact with the mother, but Lubin rebuffed the request.
Following the hearings, Bajaj told reporters that the girl’s family was unaware she was pregnant.
“It’s my understanding that nobody knew she was pregnant,” according to Bajaj, who would not say whether that included the girl.
The girl’s attorney painted her as a young girl student dealing with a traumatic experience
“Being in court, being accused of murdering your child, that’s something that probably sticks with you for the rest of your life,” Bajaj said. “When she was arrested and charged, she was in a state of shock.
Bajaj claimed his client is a straight-A student who plays soccer and takes accelerated classes at her high school.
“She’s never been arrested before. This is the first time she’s ever been even in court,” he said.
Bajaj said he doesn’t think the girl should have been charged with attempted murder, given that she followed steps to comply with Illinois’ Safe Haven Law.— need details on this. Bajaj also claimed she was unaware of what the father and his mother had done to the child.
“I think when the facts come out and you hear both sides of the story, I think it is gonna be showing us a very harsh charge in regard to this particular girl,” Bajaj said.
The girl gave birth about 6 a.m. on Tuesday, police and prosecutors said. She wrapped the newborn in a beach towel, umbilical cord still attached, and placed him atop of a garbage can in an alley located in the 3500 block of North Pulaski Road.
The boy went back to the alley, grabbed the baby boy and placed him inside of a bag, authorities said. He called his mother, who took the newborn to a fire station in the 1700 block of North Pulaski Road.
Prosecutors conceded that they didn’t have a witness to corroborate this, but said a witness did see the teenagers cleaning up blood throughout the apartment building, including in a stairwell. Lubin also ordered the boy to stay away from that witness.
Karla Antimo is scheduled to appear in court for a bail hearing on Friday. Both teens are due back in court June 14.
The baby was taken to a hospital and could be released as early as this weekend, according to Illinios Department of Children and Family Services spokesman Jassen Strokosch.
In Illinois, parents have up to 30 days to hand over their infant at a “safe haven” location if they cannot or choose not to care for their child.
No questions are asked and parents do not have to provide their name when dropping off the child, according to Dawn Geras, founder of the Save Abandoned Babies Foundation, a nonprofit that helped write the state’s law.
In 2001, the Abandoned Newborn Infant Protection Act was passed to provide a safe way for parents to give up their parental rights without fear of criminal liability and to reduce the risk of the child being abandoned.
Since the law was passed, 131 babies in the state have been turned in at Safe Haven locations, Geras said. Last year, not a single baby is known to have been abandoned in the state.
“This is the first one of the year and I hope the last — ever,” Geras said.
Safe haven locations in the state include hospitals and emergency care facilities, as well as staffed police and fire stations.
The whole process can be completed anonymously, as long as the child was not abused and was safely left with staff at a safe haven facility. If there is evidence the child was abused, the act no longer offers protections to the parents.
“That is the promise: they can remain anonymous and no one will know,” Geras said. “They can rest assured that they’ve made a loving and responsible decision.”
When a newborn is left at a safe haven location, the child is brought to the nearest hospital, where the baby will receive a physical examination and necessary medical care. The child will eventually be released to an adoption agency.
‘I tend to think [the parents] felt like they didn’t have any other option,” Geras said of parents who abandon their newborns. “But they’re scared, maybe they’re afraid to tell their parents.
“It’s not my position to judge. I have no idea what she was going through,” Geras added. “Don’t feel alone. There are people who care about you and your baby who can help.”
Parents have up to 60 days after giving the infant up at a safe haven location to reclaim the infant, according to the foundation. Parents who want to reclaim their child are subject to counseling and an investigation by child protection officials if they want to reclaim custody.
Geras said her foundation can also help before the child is born by connecting pregnant women with counseling, supportive services and adoption options.
The foundation can be reached 24/7 via their national hotline at 888-510-2229.
“There is help out there,” Geras said.
A separate family wondered if the newborn belonged to their missing 19-year-old daughter, Marlen Ochoa-Uriostegui, who was pregnant and due to give birth a couple of days before the baby boy was found. She went missing April 23 from Little Village.
“Given the closeness to my daughter’s due date, we thought maybe the two were connected” Marlen’s father, 41-year-old Arnulfo Ochoa, said. He wanted to take a DNA test to see if the baby was his grandchild. The discovery of the boy’s parents flattened the family’s hopes and the search for Ochoa-Uriostegui is ongoing.
