No Charges in Death of Newborn Found in Trash Bin

I found this story on KTLA News. This is a story from Redondo Beach California. This is about a woman who attended a family birthday party, gave birth to her baby in one of the bedrooms and put her baby in a trash can. Prosecutors are not filing a case against this woman. Jessie Canfield is 24 years old, and she was arrested around 4:30pm in Santa Barbara after her baby was found in an “overstuffed trash bin.” Christi Frey, Deputy District Attorney said, “Coroner’s office has not yet determined cause of death and has not yet ruled the death a homicide.” Hoffman said, “the young woman told police ‘she didn’t know’ she was having a baby, and she appeared ‘distraught over a tragic situation.” People at the party said she was feeling “discomfort” and disappeared into one of the bedrooms for hours. Her baby was 6 pounds, and was discovered by a Consolidated Disposal employee. The employee said, “The trash can was heavy so he took some garbage off the top and found the infant’s body halfway down.” There will be an autopsy to determine the death of the baby.

My first reaction to this story was a feeling of sadness. I know since having my own baby that I could never do anything like this, and to think about someone else doing this makes me sick.

There are places to go to give your baby if you do not want to keep him/her. There are also so many families out there whom cannot have their own children and would love to adopt a baby. So for a mother to kill her baby or even just get rid of it in a trash can is a sad thing. This is a very sad story. Although we don’t know how the baby died, it is still sad that the mother wasn’t capable of giving it to someone. I imagine she has family that would have helped her, considering she was at a family birthday party. My first thought after reading this story was how did she not know she was pregnant? I know when I was pregnant, between the morning sickness, and the fatigue, I gained weight. Not to mention the fact that I could feel my baby moving around inside of me. Whether it was my baby having the hick ups, or just moving to lay a different way and kicking my side. It’s hard for me to image anyone being pregnant and being completely blinded from it and not having a clue what’s going on with her body. Family members said she was feeling “discomfort”, well that apparently was the labor pains, and since that isn’t a normal pain, she should have known something was going on with her body. As for her family, how could they let her go in a room and not check on her? Not only that, was Jessie Canfield distant with her family, that nobody realized she was gaining weight in her stomach area?

This story is a very sad situation. And for anyone out there who is pregnant and not wanting your baby, get help. Go to a church, fire station, police station, or even a family members home. I really hope this baby didn’t go through any pain or suffering. For the sake of the baby, I hope he/she was stillborn, because I would hate to think of this poor child suffocating underneath a bag of garbage. :^(