Cops: Texas teen tried to flush newborn

[Infinity]

A 14-year-old girl gave birth in a restroom at her junior high, and the baby boy cried once before she tried to flush him down the toilet, killing him, officials said Thursday.

An autopsy confirmed the baby was alive when born Wednesday at Cedar Bayou Junior High in Baytown, near Houston. The boy was probably full term and cried before the mother, an eighth-grader, tried to flush him, said police Lt. Eric Freed.

The mother was taken to a hospital. People who knew her at school said she wore baggy clothing, and nobody suspected she was pregnant, The Houston Chronicle reported Thursday.

School officials learned of her pregnancy when another student who was in the restroom while the eighth-grader was in labor went to ask the school nurse for help, said Kathy Clausen, spokeswoman for Baytown's Goose Creek school district.

The nurse and an assistant principal ran to the bathroom, discovered the girl had given birth and called 911.

Authorities have not announced what charges the girl will face, if any. Killing an infant is a capital crime in Texas, but 14-year-olds are too young to be eligible for the death penalty, said Geoffrey Corn, an assistant professor at South Texas College of Law.

The infant died just three days after another 14-year-old girl delivered a stillborn fetus in the bathroom of an airplane on her way back to Houston from a middle-school field trip.

Baytown is about 25 miles east of Houston.

[CTU2fan]

You know, I can't even discuss crimes involving little babies. I'm completely irrational about them. There's a part of me that wants to explain it, that these young girls who do this are little more than babies themselves, that they're out of their minds, that they're not consciously murdering their babies...but on the other hand I want to go on a cuss-laden rant that won't do anyone any good.

I guess it's a tragedy more than anything else. How do you prevent this? How do you keep these girls from getting all the way to term without anyone noticing and stepping in?

[beegee]

While I do find these stories to be horrific and while I agree that these girls must be made to take responsibility for their actions, my heart goes out to the fourteen year old girls who go so completely ignored that their parents are unaware that they are nine months pregnant.

I think what happens is that once a child hits a certain age it might seem to some parents that they are ready to start taking care of themselves and making important decisions when in reality no one is more in need of guidance than a fourteen year old girl.

[nathan1977]

Charming.

Sorry. I don't care who you are or what upbringing you've had. To flush a crying baby down a toilet denotes an utter lack of humanity.

[VintagePunk]

Originally posted by nathan1977
Charming.

Sorry. I don't care who you are or what upbringing you've had. To flush a crying baby down a toilet denotes an utter lack of humanity.

Maybe this girl has had an "utter lack of humanity" inflicted upon her throughout her short life, and that's the only sort of behaviour she knows.

I would think that some Christian charity would apply in this situation, rather than judgment.

[BVS]

I don't think anyone was trying to excuse this behaviour, just shed some light on the fact that are obviously some other HUGE issues involved here...

A blind person could see that.

[nathan1977]

Originally posted by VintagePunk

I would think that some Christian charity would apply in this situation, rather than judgment.

How about Christian charity for the baby who was flushed down the toilet?

Sorry. There is justifiable, understandable, forgiveable behavior. This is not it.

[VintagePunk]

Originally posted by nathan1977


How about Christian charity for the baby who was flushed down the toilet?

Sorry. There is justifiable, understandable, forgiveable behavior. This is not it.

I'm not saying it's not a tragic situation all the way around, but doesn't the fact that a 14 year old could carry a baby to term without anyone knowing set off alarm bells for you as to what her life may have been like? No? Okay then, burn the witch!

[nathan1977]

At some point people are responsible for their actions. At 14 years old, I'm pretty sure you're aware that you are committing murder. That is what this girl has done.

[Pearl]

Originally posted by nathan1977


There is justifiable, understandable, forgiveable behavior. This is not it.

As a Christian, aren't you supposed to forgive everyone and everything, regardless of what the behavior is? Isn't that what the Bible says?

Yes, what this girl did was horrific, but something drove her to do that. Maybe she was terrified of someone finding out she had a baby. Maybe society's reaction or her parents' reaction to a pregnant teenager drove her. Maybe something biochemical affected her.

I am not saying we should excuse this girl as though nothing happened, but if you're saying you are a committed Christian, you should practice all of it, not some of it.

[BVS]

Originally posted by Pearl


As a Christian, aren't you supposed to forgive everyone and everything, regardless of what the behavior is? Isn't that what the Bible says?

Yes, what this girl did was horrific, but something drove her to do that. Maybe she was terrified of someone finding out she had a baby. Maybe society's reaction or her parents' reaction to a pregnant teenager drove her. Maybe something biochemical affected her.

I am not saying we should excuse this girl as though nothing happened, but if you're saying you are a committed Christian, you should practice all of it, not some of it.

I was going to say the same exact thing...

[nathan1977]

Originally posted by Pearl


As a Christian, aren't you supposed to forgive everyone and everything, regardless of what the behavior is? Isn't that what the Bible says?

Yes, what this girl did was horrific, but something drove her to do that. Maybe she was terrified of someone finding out she had a baby. Maybe society's reaction or her parents' reaction to a pregnant teenager drove her. Maybe something biochemical affected her.

I am not saying we should excuse this girl as though nothing happened, but if you're saying you are a committed Christian, you should practice all of it, not some of it.

Let's consider the baby who was murdered, shall we? Let's consider the girl who not only gave birth to the child, but also flushed the crying newborn down the toilet. Let's consider the humanity (or complete lack thereof) in that moment. Yes, let's not judge the person who apparently had no problem flushing another human being down a toilet. Yes, let's.

If you want to discuss the Christianity of defending the most defenseless of human beings, Jesus said things like, "Those who lead children astray should be dropped off a cliff with a millstone around their neck." (Mark 9:42) Doesn't sound very Christian, does it? But if true religion is to look after the case of the widow and the orphan (James 1:27), and someone murders them, what shall we then do? Laws are in place for a reason -- to protect the innocent (Romans 13), and there is nothing more innocent than a newborn baby.

This girl is going to be fine as far as the state is concerned. She's a minor. She's not going to be prosecuted for murder. At worst she will be put in some kind of juvenile detention until she's 18. We're talking about a newborn baby -- born alive, mind you, we're not even talking about a fetus -- who was flushed, crying, down the toilet.

Forgiveness does not excuse one from their crime.

[BVS]

Originally posted by nathan1977


Let's consider the baby who was murdered, shall we? Let's consider the girl who not only gave birth to the child, but also flushed the crying newborn down the toilet. Let's consider the humanity (or complete lack thereof) in that moment.

Forgiveness does not pretty up a crime or somehow justify it.

No one is forgetting about this child, and no one stated forgiveness justifies a thing.

[nathan1977]

Originally posted by BonoVoxSupastar


No one is forgetting about this child, and no one stated forgiveness justifies a thing.

Ah, but we're pretty quick to defend the girl, aren't we? Is it because we're uncomfortable thinking about her as a murderer? Because that is what she did.

[BVS]

Originally posted by nathan1977


Ah, but we're pretty quick to defend the girl, aren't we? Is it because we're uncomfortable thinking about her as a murderer? Because that is what she did.

Exactly who defended her?

[nathan1977]

See the litany of justification above involved in rationalizing why she did what she did -- a poor home life, neglectful parents, chemical imbalance, etc. There has been more sympathy expressed in this thread for the "poor girl" who flushed her baby down the toilet, than the dead baby itself. And interestingly, the sympathy for the dead baby seems to be remarkably back-handed -- "While this is obviously a shame..." etc.

[Pearl]

Originally posted by nathan1977
See the litany of justification above involved in rationalizing why she did what she did -- a poor home life, neglectful parents, chemical imbalance, etc. There has been more sympathy expressed in this thread for the "poor girl" who flushed her baby down the toilet, than the dead baby itself.

We're not trying to justify anything! We're trying to make sense of this tragedy. I'm sure everyone here feels like screaming in agony over what the baby went through, and are wondering what could be done to prevent such a thing from happening again.

[BVS]

Originally posted by nathan1977
See the litany of justification above involved in rationalizing why she did what she did -- a poor home life, neglectful parents, chemical imbalance, etc.

And that's defending?

You aren't a lawyer are you?

[BVS]

Originally posted by nathan1977
There has been more sympathy expressed in this thread for the "poor girl" who flushed her baby down the toilet, than the dead baby itself. And interestingly, the sympathy for the dead baby seems to be remarkably back-handed -- "While this is obviously a shame..." etc.

I find this to be complete BS...

[Irvine511]

there are multiple tragedies here.

one of which is the death of a baby (for some reason, i had thought it was stillborn when i first heard about this), in a horrific manner.

the other tragedy is that this is a girl who was pregnant at 14, and no one noticed? she had no one to tell? did she fear she'd be beaten, abused, disowned, if she told someone?