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Antonia Lopez: Nebraska Teen Who Admitted Tossing Baby Out Window Gets Probation

By Cia Young
Published on: 15:04 PST, Mar 27, 2017

Omaha, Nebraska teenager, Antonia Lopez, was sentenced to probation Friday in connection with the death of her baby girl, after admitting throwing the child out a second-story window. She had initially faced years behind bars if convicted of the child’s death in adult court, but her case was transferred to juvenile court in February 2017.

Lopez was originally charged as an adult in the September 2016 death of her baby. She was arrested and booked on one count of felony child abuse that resulted in the child’s death, People reported shortly after Lopez was apprehended.

In the early morning hours of September 30, Lopez reportedly gave birth in her apartment. After tossing her newborn baby out a second-floor window, the teenager alerted her mother to what she had done, the Omaha World-Herald reported.

Police arrived on scene at around 4 a.m. after Lopez’ mother called 911 to report that the baby had been thrown from the second-story apartment window, People reported. When paramedics showed up at the Kellom Knolls apartment complex, they reportedly came upon an adult female attempting to perform CPR on a baby in the parking lot.

The newborn child was taken to the Creighton University Medical Center and was pronounced dead not long after her arrival at the facility.

The Omaha World-Herald reported that the baby was around 14 inches long and weighed about 2 pounds. An autopsy conducted on the child found that Lopez had been pregnant for about seven months and that the baby girl suffered bleeding near her brain, skull, abdomen, and spine.

From the autopsy, the coroner has surmised that the bleeding experienced by Lopez’s baby is indicative of the fact that the child had a heartbeat after birth, which would mean she was alive when she sustained her injuries.

During a February hearing, a detective testified that after being called to the scene of the incident following Lopez’s mother’s emergency call, the teenager told him she didn’t know she was pregnant and threw her baby out of the window in a panic, KETV reports.

Detective Chad Kavars further stated that Lopez sent a number of Snapchat messages to the father of the baby. The first one read, “Babe, I’m having contractions in my lower abs every couple seconds. It hurts so bad” and another message said, “It was a girl, by the way.”

Antonia Lopez [Image via Facebook/Antonia Lopez]

Just last month, the case was transferred to juvenile court after prosecutors assessed Lopez’s mental state, her actions, and the fact that she did not have an extensive criminal record, according to the Omaha World-Herald. If Lopez had been tried in adult court for her actions, she could have served 20 years to life in prison if convicted. The teen’s lawyer, Rebecca McClung, stated in court that Lopez had only been charged with theft in the past.

In addition to probation, Lopez was sentenced to spend time in a group home because authorities believe she does not seem to understand the seriousness of her crime.

Deputy Douglas County Attorney Jennifer Chrystal-Clark noted that Lopez has made statements that indicate she does not “understand the severity of her actions” and there are also “concerns about her family not understanding the severity of what happened,” reported the Omaha World-Herald. McClung argued that Lopez understands what occurred and thought that her newborn baby was stillborn.

At press, Lopez was still behind bars and will not be released until a group home is found that is willing to take her in. The Omaha World-Herald noted that officials are having a tough time finding a group home that is agreeable to accepting Lopez because they believe she is a risk, which her attorney, McClung disputes.

[Featured Image by KatarzynaBialasiewicz/ThinkStock]

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