LilMtnCbn
01-09-2004, 08:41 AM
http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/news/local/7640507.htm
Baby born in toilet now 'doing well'
By Troy Graham and Mitch Lipka
Inquirer Staff Writers
At 3 days old, Baby Winner has no name and an uncertain future.
The 3-pound, premature girl was born in a toilet Saturday afternoon,
prosecutors said, adding that they believe the mother, Denise Marie Winner of
Mount Ephraim, intended to leave her there to die.
Now Winner, 42, faces an attempted-murder charge while her child recovers in
Cooper University Hospital in Camden, where she was listed in critical
condition yesterday.
"The baby's doing well," said Bill Shralow, a spokesman for the Camden County
Prosecutor's Office. "The baby's body temperature has returned to normal. The
prognosis is good."
When the infant arrived at the hospital after spending 30 minutes nearly
submerged in a toilet, her temperature had dipped to 82 degrees.
Mayor Mike Reader said Mount Ephraim officials helped establish an account for
the baby at First Colonial Bank yesterday after receiving about a half-dozen
calls from people asking, "Where can we send a check?"
"Maybe some good can come out of the tragedy that's happened," Reader said.
The baby has become a ward of the state while officials sort out what to do
next.
It was still unclear whether the father is a former boyfriend or the
59-year-old man with whom Winner had lived for the last year - and who
discovered the baby in the toilet, wrapped her in a towel and a shirt, and
called 911.
Winner had hidden the pregnancy from the boyfriend, prosecutors said. After the
birth was reported, she was charged with endangering the welfare of a child.
The state Division of Youth and Family Services, which has custody of the baby,
will conduct a paternity test, Shralow said.
Winner, who had been taken to Cooper University Hospital for "routine
pregnancy-related" care, was moved last night to the Camden County Correctional
Center. Bail was set at $200,000.
Winner has two other children, ages 14 and 8, who live with their father.
Winner and the father never married.
Until recently, Winner worked at a pizzeria across from her apartment. She
agreed to leave because of personal problems and for showing up to work
smelling of alcohol, said the owner, Danny Rizzi.
Prosecutors were awaiting the results of a toxicology test on the baby. There
was no indication that Winner had been drinking when she gave birth, and the
baby did not appear to suffer from fetal alcohol syndrome, Shralow said. The
baby's health problems stemmed from her time in the toilet and her birth six
weeks early, he said.
Rizzi said his former employee was often sad.
"You would look at her and could tell there was something wrong," he said
Sunday.
Records show that Winner had outstanding theft and bad-check warrants in
Lindenwold and Collingswood. She does not yet have an attorney, and no hearings
in her case have been scheduled, Shralow said.
Around 3 p.m. Saturday, Winner sent her live-in boyfriend to a drugstore for
sanitary napkins. While he was gone, she gave birth while sitting on the toilet
around 3:40 p.m., prosecutors said.
When the boyfriend returned, he heard "a faint crying sound" from the bathroom
and found a bath mat over the toilet seat, authorities said. He removed the
mat, lifted the lid, and discovered the baby, they said.
Prosecutors alleged that Winner had hoped to hide the baby's birth and death,
then possibly get rid of the body in plastic bags found nearby.
As for the child, DYFS must assess whether Winner or any other family member
could raise her, spokesman Andy Williams said.
He said that he could not comment on the specifics of the case, but that DYFS
generally made a recommendation to a Family Court judge who must consider the
mother's ability - legally and psychologically - to raise the child.
If the mother is not considered a viable parent, the ability of the baby's
father to care for baby is evaluated. If he isn't interested or is deemed
unsuitable, other relatives are considered before the baby is placed in foster
care with an intent to find an adoptive home.
"Usually, family is the preferred placement," Williams said. "As long as it's
secure [for the baby], that would be the same in this case. The safety of the
child has to be of the paramount concern."
In an effort to stop infant abandonments and killings, New Jersey passed the
Safe Haven Infant Protection Act, which allows mothers to drop off babies
younger than 30 days at any emergency room or police station in the state.
Since the program started in August 2000, 14 mothers have dropped off their
babies, Williams said, and two returned to reclaim them. During that period, he
said, 13 newborns were abandoned.
Under the law, the state has to allot $500,000 a year to market the program.
DYFS has promoted the program with NJ Transit, in newspapers, on radio, and
through schools.
"It's just reprehensible that you'd do something like this, particularly when
the legislature went to the trouble to create safe havens," Mount Ephraim
Police Chief Christopher Ferrari said. "Why would you do this?"
-------------------------
A good friend will come and bail you out of jail . . . but, a true friend will
be sitting next to you saying, "Damn . . . that was fun!"
-----Unknown
Baby born in toilet now 'doing well'
By Troy Graham and Mitch Lipka
Inquirer Staff Writers
At 3 days old, Baby Winner has no name and an uncertain future.
The 3-pound, premature girl was born in a toilet Saturday afternoon,
prosecutors said, adding that they believe the mother, Denise Marie Winner of
Mount Ephraim, intended to leave her there to die.
Now Winner, 42, faces an attempted-murder charge while her child recovers in
Cooper University Hospital in Camden, where she was listed in critical
condition yesterday.
"The baby's doing well," said Bill Shralow, a spokesman for the Camden County
Prosecutor's Office. "The baby's body temperature has returned to normal. The
prognosis is good."
When the infant arrived at the hospital after spending 30 minutes nearly
submerged in a toilet, her temperature had dipped to 82 degrees.
Mayor Mike Reader said Mount Ephraim officials helped establish an account for
the baby at First Colonial Bank yesterday after receiving about a half-dozen
calls from people asking, "Where can we send a check?"
"Maybe some good can come out of the tragedy that's happened," Reader said.
The baby has become a ward of the state while officials sort out what to do
next.
It was still unclear whether the father is a former boyfriend or the
59-year-old man with whom Winner had lived for the last year - and who
discovered the baby in the toilet, wrapped her in a towel and a shirt, and
called 911.
Winner had hidden the pregnancy from the boyfriend, prosecutors said. After the
birth was reported, she was charged with endangering the welfare of a child.
The state Division of Youth and Family Services, which has custody of the baby,
will conduct a paternity test, Shralow said.
Winner, who had been taken to Cooper University Hospital for "routine
pregnancy-related" care, was moved last night to the Camden County Correctional
Center. Bail was set at $200,000.
Winner has two other children, ages 14 and 8, who live with their father.
Winner and the father never married.
Until recently, Winner worked at a pizzeria across from her apartment. She
agreed to leave because of personal problems and for showing up to work
smelling of alcohol, said the owner, Danny Rizzi.
Prosecutors were awaiting the results of a toxicology test on the baby. There
was no indication that Winner had been drinking when she gave birth, and the
baby did not appear to suffer from fetal alcohol syndrome, Shralow said. The
baby's health problems stemmed from her time in the toilet and her birth six
weeks early, he said.
Rizzi said his former employee was often sad.
"You would look at her and could tell there was something wrong," he said
Sunday.
Records show that Winner had outstanding theft and bad-check warrants in
Lindenwold and Collingswood. She does not yet have an attorney, and no hearings
in her case have been scheduled, Shralow said.
Around 3 p.m. Saturday, Winner sent her live-in boyfriend to a drugstore for
sanitary napkins. While he was gone, she gave birth while sitting on the toilet
around 3:40 p.m., prosecutors said.
When the boyfriend returned, he heard "a faint crying sound" from the bathroom
and found a bath mat over the toilet seat, authorities said. He removed the
mat, lifted the lid, and discovered the baby, they said.
Prosecutors alleged that Winner had hoped to hide the baby's birth and death,
then possibly get rid of the body in plastic bags found nearby.
As for the child, DYFS must assess whether Winner or any other family member
could raise her, spokesman Andy Williams said.
He said that he could not comment on the specifics of the case, but that DYFS
generally made a recommendation to a Family Court judge who must consider the
mother's ability - legally and psychologically - to raise the child.
If the mother is not considered a viable parent, the ability of the baby's
father to care for baby is evaluated. If he isn't interested or is deemed
unsuitable, other relatives are considered before the baby is placed in foster
care with an intent to find an adoptive home.
"Usually, family is the preferred placement," Williams said. "As long as it's
secure [for the baby], that would be the same in this case. The safety of the
child has to be of the paramount concern."
In an effort to stop infant abandonments and killings, New Jersey passed the
Safe Haven Infant Protection Act, which allows mothers to drop off babies
younger than 30 days at any emergency room or police station in the state.
Since the program started in August 2000, 14 mothers have dropped off their
babies, Williams said, and two returned to reclaim them. During that period, he
said, 13 newborns were abandoned.
Under the law, the state has to allot $500,000 a year to market the program.
DYFS has promoted the program with NJ Transit, in newspapers, on radio, and
through schools.
"It's just reprehensible that you'd do something like this, particularly when
the legislature went to the trouble to create safe havens," Mount Ephraim
Police Chief Christopher Ferrari said. "Why would you do this?"
-------------------------
A good friend will come and bail you out of jail . . . but, a true friend will
be sitting next to you saying, "Damn . . . that was fun!"
-----Unknown
