So Sad

A woman who lives in a trailer park near my sister did something so unfathomable several weeks ago that I haven't been able to stop thinking about it. She lives with her boyfriend and they have a 2 year old son. Each of them also has a child from a previous relationship. She became pregnant, and fearing that her boyfriend would be angry, she hid the pregnancy. Then she delivered a healthy 9 lb. baby boy at home in her bathroom. Her boyfriend kept banging on the door and asking what was the matter. She told him she had a bleeding ulcer and felt ill. She cut the umbilical cord, but did not clamp it, and wrapped the baby up in an old pair of sweatpants and put him under the bathroom sink. She told her boyfriend that she had vomited blood to explain the mess in the bathroom, and had him drive her to the hospital, stopping for a coke on the way. Once there, hospital personnel could tell that she had just given birth, which she denied several times. They called the police, who went to her home and another team to the hospital. She admitted the truth after a while. Her baby was found dead at her home. Smothering was the cause of death, either from the sweatpants or her hand. She faces a possible life sentence.

How could someone do that? Many states have laws making it unpunishable to hand your baby over to authorities like police, fire department or hospital, no questions asked. I'm not sure if Michigan does or not.

I also realize that she may have been a battered woman. It sounds like her boyfriend wasn't a very nice guy. He was angry when their 2 year old was conceived, and had stated that they couldn't afford any more children. He doesn't work; she supports the family as a waitress. He owns a car and she does not, but he refuses to drive her to work when he's angry at her. I haven't stood in her shoes. but it's hard to imagine any circumstances that would justify what she did.

I know we read about these incidents all the time, but this one seemed to hit so close to home. Perhaps because it happened not too far from where I grew up and very close to where my sister now lives.

Even more disturbing, a friend of mine commented that considering the number of times stories like this are reported, when the person is caught, there may be many more times it happens and the woman is not discovered. That never occurred to me, but I suppose it might be true.

I am praying for her beautiful baby, gone now forever