A 16-year-old from Nebraska who pleaded guilty to throwing her newborn out a window was sentenced on Friday to probation and ordered to live in a group home.
Douglas County Juvenile Court Judge Christopher Kelly also told Antonia Lopez that she must receive therapy, delete her Facebook account, and perform 50 hours of community service, the Omaha World-Herald reported.
Police say she gave birth September 30 at her mother’s apartment in Omaha before she threw the child out the window. Lopez then told her mother, who called 911 after she found the child.
The baby was pronounced dead on arrival at the hospital.
Lopez reportedly messaged her boyfriend on Snapchat after the infant’s death, saying, “It was a girl by the way,” the New York Post reported.
An autopsy revealed that the child was in her seventh month of development and suffered bleeding near her skull, brain, spine, and abdomen from the blunt-force trauma.
Lopez was initially going to be charged as an adult with one count of felony child abuse resulting in death, a charge that carries a sentence of 20 years to life in prison.
The case was transferred to juvenile court after the district attorney’s office took into account her mental state, actions, and lack of criminal record.
Douglas County Attorney Don Kleine said Lopez did not plan her actions, which were more of a “panicked reaction.”
Lopez told a police detective that she did not know she was pregnant and thought she was just having her period when she woke up in pain. Lopez’s boyfriend, however, told officers that she was pregnant and that he had urged her to let her mother know about the pregnancy and see a doctor.
COMMENTS
Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting.