The teenage parents of a newborn left atop a trash can in a Chicago alley are facing attempted murder charges, and a grandmother of the child is accused of lying to police about finding the baby.
Chicago police say the 16-year-old mother and 17-year-old father are expected to appear on Friday, May 10, in juvenile court.
Police say the girl gave birth, wrapped the boy in a towel and placed him atop a garbage can Tuesday in an alley on Chicago’s Northwest Side, 1700 block N. Pulaski.
They say the boy’s father put the baby in a bag before calling his 37-year-old mother, who took the child to a fire station.
The teenage father’s mother is now charged with disorderly conduct and falsely reporting how she ended up with the child.
The Associated Press isn’t naming her to avoid identifying the teens.
‘Minutes Away From Having No Chance’
The grandmother rushed the boy to a nearby firehouse on May 7. There, paramedics performed CPR to revive the little boy.
“The baby was cold as concrete,” Chicago Fire Dept. Paramedic Field Chief Patrick Fitzmaurice told reporters during a news conference, reported the news station. “I wasn’t too optimistic, but like I said to the lieutenant, I wasn’t ready to lose this one today, and neither were they and they worked very hard.”
“This poor kid was minutes away from having no chance at all,” Fitzmaurice added.
A woman and her daughter noticed the baby boy, who still had his umbilical cord attached, in an alley at in Chicago. https://t.co/ekbk0BQGaA
— KTVU (@KTVU) May 8, 2019
After fire department officials revived the boy, he was taken to the Norwegian American Hospital in a critical condition.
Later on Tuesday, officials said the was in a stable condition and was “crying and kicking.”
“The newborn found in an alley on north Keystone has been upgraded to stable from very critical. The little guy is crying and kicking and about to be transferred to LCH on Chicago Ave. thanks to CFD paramedics and ED crew at Norwegian!” the Chicago Fire Media tweeted.
Update. The newborn found in alley on north Keystone has been upgraded to stable from very critical. The little guy is crying and kicking and about to be transferred to LCH on Chicago Ave. thanks to CFD paramedics and ED crew at Norwegian!
— Chicago Fire Media (@CFDMedia) May 7, 2019
He was then transferred to Lurie Children’s Hospital for further treatment.
Dawn Geras, who lobbied to pass Illinois’ Safe Haven Law in 2001, told Chicago Sun-Times that this baby was the first to be found illegally abandoned in Illinois this year.
Under the city’s law, a baby 30 days or younger may be left with a staff member at a hospital, fire or police station—with no questions asked, according to the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services.
Epoch Times reporter Janita Kan and The Associated Press contributed to this article.
