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A 19-year-old woman was arrested Tuesday by Mesa police for the alleged drowning of her newborn son in a toilet.
"What she told us was she didn't want any the family or friends to know that she was pregnant, had given birth to a child," said Mesa Police Detective Tim Gaffney.
Officers responded to call at about 10 p.m. July 8 from a local hospital about a welfare check on a woman, Leandra Berumen. She told police that she gave birth at home on July 7 to a baby boy, who was dead. She said she and a friend took the baby to a local mortuary and dropped him off.
Berumen later admitted to investigators that the baby was at her Mesa home in a closet. Police found the baby in a closet, dead.
The Maricopa County Medical Examiners Office completed an autopsy and determined that the baby was alive at birth.
After receiving the results of the autopsy, detectives located Berumen in Kearny, Ariz., and arrested her. She admitted to detectives Tuesday that the baby cried and was moving when she gave birth. She did not want anybody to know about the baby so she held him down inside of a toilet.
She was booked for one count of Second Degree Murder.
In 2001, Arizona joined several states that have a "Safe Haven Law" for newborn babies.
The Safe Haven Law allows mothers, fathers, or whoever is in possession of an unharmed newborn that is up to 72 hours old to leave the child with any hospital, church, adoption agency, health care institution, child welfare agency, or fire station. Individuals can remain anonymous and will not be prosecuted for abuse as long as there are no signs of physical injury to the baby.
http://www.620ktar.com/?nid=6&sid=63317
"What she told us was she didn't want any the family or friends to know that she was pregnant, had given birth to a child," said Mesa Police Detective Tim Gaffney.
Officers responded to call at about 10 p.m. July 8 from a local hospital about a welfare check on a woman, Leandra Berumen. She told police that she gave birth at home on July 7 to a baby boy, who was dead. She said she and a friend took the baby to a local mortuary and dropped him off.
Berumen later admitted to investigators that the baby was at her Mesa home in a closet. Police found the baby in a closet, dead.
The Maricopa County Medical Examiners Office completed an autopsy and determined that the baby was alive at birth.
After receiving the results of the autopsy, detectives located Berumen in Kearny, Ariz., and arrested her. She admitted to detectives Tuesday that the baby cried and was moving when she gave birth. She did not want anybody to know about the baby so she held him down inside of a toilet.
She was booked for one count of Second Degree Murder.
In 2001, Arizona joined several states that have a "Safe Haven Law" for newborn babies.
The Safe Haven Law allows mothers, fathers, or whoever is in possession of an unharmed newborn that is up to 72 hours old to leave the child with any hospital, church, adoption agency, health care institution, child welfare agency, or fire station. Individuals can remain anonymous and will not be prosecuted for abuse as long as there are no signs of physical injury to the baby.
http://www.620ktar.com/?nid=6&sid=63317