Erica Gomez: Texas Teen Allegedly Stabbed Newborn Baby To Death, Then Takes A Nap
A 17-year-old Texas teenager allegedly gave birth to an infant, stabbed the newborn to death, abandoned its corpse in a shed, then went to a friend’s house to take a nap, Fox News is reporting.
According to police reports, Gomez allegedly admitted to giving birth the the baby in her bathroom on February 9. She allegedly further admitted to wrapping it in a bathrobe, the she allegedly left it in a shed on a neighbor’s property, then went to the neighbor’s house and went to sleep. About 12 hours later, a 13-year-old neighbor entered the shed and discovered the baby’s corpse.
Police say the newborn infant had been stabbed nine times: three times on the neck, once on the side and five times in the back. The baby’s death was ruled a homicide.
Authorities believe the baby was left in the shed for at least 12 hours, according to KFOX-TV (El Paso). It is not clear, as of this writing, if the baby died of his wounds while in the shed, or if he had died before being placed in the shed.
Gomez’ mother noticed later that her daughter was bleeding. She took the teen to the hospital, where officials determined she’d had a miscarriage.
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— EL PASO POLICE DEPT (@EPPOLICE) February 19, 2018
Gomez has been charged with capital murder. She was booked into the El Paso County Jail on an $800,000 bond.
She allegedly didn’t tell anyone that she was pregnant or that she had given birth because she was afraid.
Family friend Erica Martinez says she can’t possibly begin to understand what was going through the teenager’s mind.
“I cannot understand what she was thinking or feeling.”
Neighbor Thomas Moreno, however, is less than sympathetic.
“It really upsets me, children shouldn’t be abused.”
Unfortunately, far too often frightened teenage girls and young women give birth and, believing they’ll face retribution from their families or believing they have no other options, kill and/or abandon their newborns. According to a 2015 Splinter report, there are no hard-and-fast federal statistics about this terrible crime.
To this end, several states have adopted so-called “Safe Haven Laws,” where a newborn up to a certain age (it various by state, as low as one day after birth in Missouri to up to 90 days in New Mexico) can be left, no questions asked, at a hospital or police station. Indiana even took things a step further, installing so-called “baby boxes” — that is, soft, heated boxes that will alert authorities whenever a baby is placed in them.
