Child Abandonment

A homeless man searching for cans in a Rancho Cucamonga parking lot Dumpster made a startling find Sunday morning: a 5-pound baby girl. The newborn was naked, her umbilical cord still attached, and stuffed in a plastic Target bag full of discarded mail. She was not crying. She felt cold -- her body temperature had dropped to 87.5 degrees -- but she was alive. The man alerted a neighbor, who brought a towel to wrap the baby. Another neighbor called 911 about 8 a.m.

A woman drove from suburban Atlanta to Nebraska this weekend to leave her 12-year-old son at a hospital, making him the 20th child abandoned under a unique state law that has raised questions across the country about overwhelmed parents. Since July, Nebraska has allowed parents to leave children younger than 18 at medical facilities without facing criminal penalties.

Deciding he could wait no longer, Gov. Dave Heineman said Wednesday that he would call a special legislative session to alter a safe-haven law that in just a few months has allowed parents to abandon nearly two dozen children as old as 17. Heineman had planned to wait until the next regular legislative session in January but changed his mind as the number of dropped-off children grew.

Nebraska legislators opened a public hearing Monday on adding an age limit to a safe-haven law that has allowed nearly three dozen children -- some close to adulthood -- to be abandoned at hospitals. Lawmakers are in a special session in Lincoln called by Gov. Dave Heineman, who has proposed allowing parents and guardians to drop off only infants no older than 3 days at hospitals without fear of prosecution for abandonment. Some legislators want a higher age limit; Sen.

First Melyssa Cowburn's 5-year-old child tried to bash in a baby's head with a hammer. Then he set the shower curtain on fire. The next day he plugged all the sinks and toilets in their apartment and flooded the place. Cowburn and her husband had tried unsuccessfully to get their insurance company to pay for mental health treatment for the boy. The difficulty she had keeping him under control had already helped drive her to attempt suicide last year.

A woman accused of putting her baby in a plastic bag and setting the girl afloat in a lake was convicted of attempted homicide and sentenced to more than eight years in prison. Simone Cassiano da Silva, 30, insisted she was not guilty, saying she gave her baby to homeless people because she did not have enough money to raise her. The baby's rescue last year was filmed by an amateur cameraman and broadcast worldwide.

Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge David Wesley raised questions in court Friday about charging USC student Holly Ashcraft with murder in the death of her newborn son, whose body was found by a homeless man in a trash bin in late 2005. Last month, defense attorney Mark Geragos filed a motion to have the case dismissed, based on insufficient evidence that the baby was born alive or that there was criminal intent on Ashcraft's part in his death.

A judge Friday threw out a murder charge against a USC student accused of leaving her newborn son's body in a trash bin outside her apartment, but prosecutors immediately refiled the case. The district attorney will try to persuade another judge that Holly Ashcraft killed the child intentionally and with malice. Loyola Law School professor Laurie L. Levenson said the prosecution can refile a criminal case one time.

A USC student accused of leaving her newborn baby in a trash bin outside her apartment pleaded not guilty Thursday to murder charges. Holly Ashcraft, 22, also faces child abuse charges for allegedly dumping the baby, whose body was found outside her residence near the USC campus in 2005. Earlier this month, a judge threw out the murder charge, saying he was not convinced prosecutors could prove criminal intent.

A judge Tuesday dismissed a murder charge against a 22-year-old USC student whose newborn son was found dead in a trash bin nearly two years ago. Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Samuel Mayerson ruled that charges against Holly Ashcraft had been dismissed twice -- first murder and then involuntary manslaughter -- the maximum allowed to prosecutors under state law. In effect, he ruled that no more homicide charges can be filed against her relating to the death of her son.