Dec 16, 2008 12:30 pm US/Central
15-Year-Old Mom Gets Probation, Community Service
CHICAGO (Sun-Times Media Wire) ―
A 15-year-old mother who pleaded guilty to wrapping her newborn in a plastic bag and leaving the baby outside her Uptown apartment building in July was sentenced Tuesday to probation and community service.
The mother -- whose name is being withheld because of her age -- pleaded guilty on Nov. 13 to one count of attempted murder before Cook County Judge Lori Wolfson and was released on electronic monitoring until Tuesday, according to Cook County State's Attorney's office spokeswoman Tandra Simonton.
On Tuesday, she was sentenced by Wolfson to five years probation, 60 hours of community service and counseling, Simonton said. The teen is scheduled back in court on March 17 for a progress report.
The teen was initially charged with two counts of each of attempted first-degree murder and aggravated battery causing great bodily harm, but those charges were dropped as part of her plea agreement.
On July 8, Brandon Shephard, 25, a resident of an apartment building in the 4600 block of North Beacon Street, heard a baby crying in the courtyard and found the infant wrapped in a plastic grocery bag in the bushes about 2:30 a.m.
He didn't have a cell phone and didn't want to waste time so he picked up the baby and ran to a fire station three blocks away in the 1500 block of West Wilson Avenue.
Shephard kicked in the door and woke up firefighters, who rushed the boy to Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center. The boy, called "Baby Wilson" after the street, suffered hypothermia and a cut lip.
Belmont Area detectives located the mother by canvassing the area, releasing community alerts and Web sites until the teen turned herself in to Belmont Area detectives.
The girl confessed to police that she gave birth to the infant and then discarded the newborn in the courtyard.
(Source: Sun-Times Media Wire © Chicago Sun-Times 2009. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
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