Baby Found in Ditch[UPDATE: MOTHER CHARGED]

[wheezer]

Baby’s Body Found in Opelika
By Tammy Terry Anchor
News 3 On

We have a developing story about a baby found in a drainage ditch.
This morning, Opelika Police officers found the baby in a ditch behind the Tree Top apartment complex. That's on Birmingham Highway. The baby was pronounced dead by the Lee County coroner. Opelika Police say they're treating the case as a homicide. The baby was taken to the Medical Examiner's office in Montgomery to determine the cause of death. You can read more about this story in our media partner, the Opelika-Auburn News.




http://www.wrbl.com/index.php/news/article/babys-body-found-in-opelika/6088/#When:16:42:00Z:

[Roamer]

Oh, good grief. Is this an epidemic??? Don't want your baby? Throw it away. :mad:

[emmeblu]

:1187603408.CR.MotheNot another one. When will the madness STOP?

:1222423:

[KittyMom]

Every single day there is another story like this. I just don't know what to think anymore. :(

[Noahs ARK]

Throwing away babies???? :1187603408.CR.Mothe

This world is going to hell in a handbasket.

[LiveLaughLuv]

By Katie Stallcup

Published: February 28, 2008

A small crowd gathered at the edge of Garden Hills Cemetery Thursday afternoon to say goodbye to a baby girl no one knew.

Pink and white flowers covered the tiny white casket and wreaths, one with a white teddy bear nestled among the blooms, flanked the area.

Solemn-faced police officers listened to the service while Lee County Coroner Bill Harris’ wife, Christy, dabbed at her eyes as the Rev. Clifford E. Jones read scriptures and led prayers.

“We pray for strength as we see the cruelty of this world every day,” Jones said. “We give thanks for her life, short as it was.”

The infant’s body was found Feb. 4 in a drainage ditch at Treetop Apartments on Birmingham Highway in Opelika.

Jones said he had no answers as to why that happened, only comfort that the infant girl was now cared for.

“She is in a different place, unable to feel hurt or to feel pain,” Jones said. “As we commit her today, she is already in the presence of God.”

The coroner and his family took the lead in organizing the funeral for the infant.

“With my job, you sometimes put your blinders on,” Harris said. “You try not to make it personal. But my wife said we needed to do something, so we did make it personal … (The baby) didn’t need to be a statistic. She needed a proper burial.

“With children, it’s especially hard to work with (those cases). Children aren’t supposed to die.”

His wife, Christy Harris and her daughter, Mary Catemann Weaver, named the baby Noelani.

http://www.oanow.com/oan/news/local/article/funeral_held_for_infant_found_dead_in_drainage_dit ch/7167/

[Roamer]

Rest in the arms of the angels, little one. :1222423:

[LiveLaughLuv]

Police Release New Information on Baby Found Dead in Opelika Drainage Ditch

Posted: Feb 4, 2008 01:58 PM EST

Updated: Feb 5, 2008 05:17 PM CST






Stay Informed and Help Us Cover The News

Emails from WSFA 12 News
Stay informed up to the minute. Sign up for Breaking News and What We're Working On emails from WSFA 12 News.

Talk to WSFA 12 News About This Story





OPELIKA, Ala. -- Lee County coroner Bill Harris says the baby found dead in a drainage ditch Monday is that of a black female.

However, the cause and manner of death have yet to be released pending futher testing from autopsy findings.

The discovery was made early Monday morning by a maintenance worker cleaning up around the Tree Top Apartment Complex in Opelika.

Meanwhile, investigators continue to search for the mother, or the person who left the baby in the ditch. Yellow crime tape and a tent mark off the area around the drain pipe, where the infant's body was discovered.


The worker was cleaning up the grounds, when he found the baby and called police.


"The Infants body will be taken to the medical examiners office in Montgomery to determine the age and the cause of death," said Captain Allen Elkins, with the Opelika Police Department.

Investigators hung up sheets, to shield the body from onlookers and the media.

Then a few minutes later, swaddled in a white sheet, the baby was carried out and placed in a van. Investigators aren't sure if the baby was a boy or a girl.

"The child was wrapped in some type of fabric which that won't be removed, I do know the department of forensic sciences has been called into aide this investigation," Elkins said.

Opelika police are asking anyone with information in this case, to please give them a call at (334) 705-5200.

Elizabeth White of our sister station, WTVM in Columbus, Georgia contributed to this report.
http://www.topix.com/metro/auburn-opelika-al/2008/02/police-release-new-information-on-baby-found-dead-in-opelika-drainage-ditch

[Roamer]

I hope they find the vile person who did this. :mad:

[TigressPen]

I hope they find the vile person who did this. :mad:



Me too, Roamer. If the child died from natural causes, throwing it away sickens me. If it was killed, it angers me. Either way, the perp needs to be punished.

[AU_Grad]

http://www.oanow.com/oan/news/local/article/mother_faces_arraignment_on_may_27_in_infant_death _case/13859/

http://i25.tinypic.com/bgdw5i.jpg

An Opelika teen (Efernia McClendon) charged with manslaughter in connection to her infant daughter’s death remained in jail Friday with a $50,000 bond.

Efernia Kaylee McClendon, 18, was arrested early Friday after being indicted on a manslaughter charge, according to Opelika police Capt. Allan Elkins.

McClendon was charged in connection with the death of her infant daughter, according to Lee County District Attorney Nick Abbett.

The body of the infant was found wrapped in fabric and lying in a drainage ditch behind the Treetop Apartments on Feb. 4. Her arraignment will be on May 27.

If convicted, she faces a sentence of 2 to 20 years and a fine of up to $30,000.

[Roamer]

Thank you, AG. She deserves it!

[Cat]

Throwing away babies???? :1187603408.CR.Mothe

This world is going to hell in a handbasket.

You said it. My daughter can't have babies. She'd love it if someone threw an unwanted one to her.

[LiveLaughLuv]

If convicted, she faces a sentence of 2 to 20 years and a fine of up to $30,000.

That's it! 2-20??? For killing a baby?

She also needs to be sterilized so when she gets out she can't produce no more babies...


You said it. My daughter can't have babies. She'd love it if someone threw an unwanted one to her.

So sorry, Cat. Things like this must really make you angry.

It sends me into a rage, especially when they could drop off their unwanted child to a safe haven with no charges filed. Then there's the other side of the coin, USE PROTECTION!!!!!

[Roamer]

Let's hope the judge gives her the max. People don't like baby killers in prison.

[AU_Grad]

http://www.wsfa.com/Global/story.asp?S=8393070

An Opelika teenager accused of leaving her newborn in a drainage ditch, will be tried as an adult. 18 year old Efernia McClendon pled not guild in court. Shortly afterwards, a Lee County Judge ruled she should not be allowed youthful offender status.

The child's body was found back in February outside the Treetop Apartments in Opelika.

McClendon is being held on $50,000 bond.

[London Lass]

I can't believe how often these stories are coming out now, it scares me! As little as two years - unbelievable...but if it was the UK, they probably wouldn't even give her that!