"Newborn Jane" VALENCIA - 1 Day (2009) - Anaheim CA

Authorities have arrested a 19-year-old Anaheim woman in the death of a
newborn girl who was found wrapped in plastic in a trash bin in Stanton on Wednesday.

The woman, whose name is being withheld pending further investigation, is being treated at a hospital.

A deputy is at her side, making sure she remains in custody until her
medical release, said Jim Amormino, a spokesman for the Orange County
Sheriff's Department.

Authorities found the woman when she entered West Anaheim Medical Center on Wednesday afternoon in need of treatment.

"Her stories were inconsistent," Amormino said. "She denied giving birth several times."

Doctors concluded otherwise and alerted the Anaheim Police Department, which
conducted a joint investigation with the Sheriff's Department.

Deputies focused their search near Sombrero's restaurant after learning the woman had eaten there Tuesday evening.

They were desperately hoping to rescue a live baby but instead found the
newborn's body in the restaurant's trash bin just after 7 p.m. Wednesday.

The full-term, apparently healthy baby may have been born in the women's restroom at the restaurant.

The woman could have avoided trouble if she'd taken advantage of "safe
surrender" laws, which permit newborns to be left at a hospital or a
fire station, both of which were nearby.

"Anyone can bring an
unwanted baby with no questions asked," Amormino said. "That makes this
crime even more senseless and barbaric."

By Thursday night, the trash bin had become a makeshift shrine, with people leaving teddy bears, flowers and candles.

http://www.dailynews.com/news/ci_14063518

http://www.crimenews2000.com/news.php?extend.2285

Baby Girl Valencia, 1 day old

Posted by Sheriff in Child Abuse




Baby Girl Valencia, 1 day - found dead in a dumpster after her mother
allegedly gave birth in the restroom of a restaurant, wrapped her in
plastic, and left it in a dumpster to die
Juana Perez Valencia, 19 - charged with the murder of her
newborn baby girl Anaheim,CA

An Anaheim woman accused of giving birth to
a healthy baby girl and then throwing her away in a trash bin
has pleaded not guilty and is being held on $ 1 million bail,
prosecutors said. Juana Perez Valencia, 19,
is being held at Orange County Jail and will next appear in court for a
pre-trial hearing on Jan. 27, said Susan Kang Schroeder, a spokeswoman
for the District Attorney's office.

Valencia was working the
night of Dec. 22 at Sombrero's, a small Mexican eatery in Stanton.
Prosecutors allege Valencia gave birth to a healthy baby – who weighed 6.3 pounds and was 17
inches long – inside the restaurant. Authorities say she then placed
the baby in a plastic bag and threw
the baby in a trash bin
behind the restaurant. An autopsy revealed the baby was alive when she was left in the trash bin,
authorities said.



The arraignment for a 19-year-old woman accused of killing her newborn
baby and dumping the body in a trash bin
has been postponed. A new arraignment date has not yet been announced.


Juana Perez Valencia was scheduled to be arraigned Tuesday on a
murder charge, but was unable to appear in court due to health
problems. Her arraignment had been rescheduled for Wednesday morning,
but it was postponed again.

Investigators believe Valencia gave
birth to the baby girl last Tuesday in the bathroom of
Sombrero's Mexican restaurant in Stanton. They say she worked as a
waitress at the restaurant, located at 7006 Katella Ave. The body of the
baby, who was born healthy, was
found at about 7 p.m. Wednesday in the trash
bin behind the restaurant.

09/19/2011

09:00 AM

Jury Trial -

C41

https://ocapps.occourts.org/Vision_Public/DisplayHearingInfo.do

10/11/2011 08:30 AM Jury Trial - C41

https://ocapps.occourts.org/Vision_Public/DisplayHearingInfo.do

10/13/2011 08:30 AM Jury Trial - C41

https://ocapps.occourts.org/Vision_Public/DisplayHearingInfo.do

10/17/2011 08:30 AM Further Proceedings - C41
01/09/2012 08:30 AM Jury Trial - C41


https://ocapps.occourts.org/Vision_Public/DisplayHearingInfo.do

01/09/2012 08:30 AM Jury Trial - C41 Heard
01/10/2012 09:00 AM Jury Trial - C41 Heard

https://ocapps.occourts.org/Vision_Public/DisplayHearingInfo.do?d-7069871-p=2

SANTA ANA – A woman failed to do a mother's duty when she secretly gave birth to a full-term baby girl in a restaurant bathroom, suffocated her and then dumped the newborn into a trash bin, a prosecutor told an Orange County jury Tuesday.

A mother "owes a duty when the baby is born," Deputy District Attorney Ebrahim Baytieh said in his closing argument in the murder trial of Juana Perez Valencia, now 21. "She threw her in the trash like a piece of garbage."
Juana Perez Valencia



"Make no mistake about this, in this courtroom sits a woman who murdered her baby girl," said Baytieh, adding: "For that she needs to be held accountable."

Three days before Christmas, on a cold December night in 2009, Valencia gave birth to a 6-pound, 3-ounce, 17-inch baby, but the child was not part of her plans, the prosecutor contended.

Displaying photographs of Valencia at school with friends on a screen, the prosecutor held photos showing the newborn in a plastic bag and said the defendant wanted her school life and not the baby.

"She liked her life. She liked dancing. The baby was not part of her plan," he said.

Defense attorney Robert Viefhaus told jurors Valencia was hardly living a dream life:

She came to the United States from Mexico at age 15, lived in a two-bedroom apartment with eight other people, was working to help with household income, babysat her nephews and nieces and knew little about the birthing process, he said.

And, the clueless girl who had just turned 19 at the time of the Dec. 22, 2009, death did not shirk her motherly duty, Viefhaus argued to jurors in Superior Court Judge Thomas Goethals' courtroom.

"The mother's very first duty is to get the baby out (during birthing) and that's what she intended to do," the defense attorney said. "She did what Mother Nature told her to do. That's not murder. That'll never be murder."

During the unassisted birth Valencia inadvertently suffocated the baby, Viefhaus said.

Valencia is charged with one felony count of murder and one of assault on a child with force likely to produce great bodily injury resulting in death. If convicted, she faces a possible sentence of 25 years to life in prison.

Valencia, of Anaheim, now 21, was a Western High School junior at the time of the death.

That she gave birth to the baby and disposed of it is not in dispute, but the case is about "the inference and ramifications" that you draw from Valencia's actions, Viefhaus told jurors at the start of the trial.

Valencia was working as a food server at Sombrero's, a small Mexican eatery in Stanton, when she went into labor and gave birth to the baby, prosecutors say.

She is accused of suffocating the newborn and putting her in a plastic bag before throwing her body in a trash bin behind the restaurant. Authorities found the baby's body and the mother's placenta in the trash bin the next day, Baytieh said.

The defendant lied to many people, including doctors, school officials and later police, saying she had no idea she was pregnant and that she was gaining weight because she had been eating too much, prosecutors say.

While the defendant said her sister gave her a pregnancy test, which turned out negative, her sister testified at the trial she never did so, Baytieh said.

His client is not a Rhodes Scholar by any means, Viefhaus said, confusing the umbilical cord with intestines.

"What she did was she lied her way into suspicion because of her ignorance," he said.

Judge Goethals told jurors that, to find Valencia not guilty, they must conclude she had no other legal options and her actions were necessary under normal circumstances.

"Is there really evidence that it was necessary for her to kill the baby?" Baytieh asked jurors. "The answer is a resounding no."

Viefhaus argued his client didn't have the time to call 911 when she went into labor and labeled the death an accident, saying it was neither abuse nor murder.

http://www.ocregister.com/news/baby-337130-valencia-gave.html

Judge declares mistrial in baby-dumping case

SANTA ANA – An Orange County jury hopelessly deadlocked Monday in the
trial of a woman accused of suffocating a full-term baby girl after
secretly giving birth and dumping the newborn into a trash can.

The impasse prompted Superior Court Judge Thomas Goethals to declare a
mistrial for Juana Perez Valencia, 21, of Anaheim, who was charged with
one felony count of first-degree murder and one of assault on a child
with force likely to produce great bodily injury resulting in death.
Jurors were leaning 10-2 in favor of not guilty on first-degree
murder, 7-5 for guilty on the lesser second-degree murder charge and
were evenly split on the assault.

"I think it shows the jurors did the best they could with a difficult
case, with difficult facts and half of them came to the right
decision," defense attorney Robert Viefhaus said.

That Valencia gave birth to the baby and disposed of the newborn was not in dispute.

While the prosecutor argued she suffocated the baby, the defense contended the baby died during childbirth.

Deputy District Attorney Ebrahim Baytieh said that the 6-pound,
5-ounce, 17-inch baby was not part of Valencia's life plans and that she
failed in her motherly duty to protect the infant.

He said he will retry the case on a second-degree murder theory. If
convicted, Valencia would face a possible 25 years to life in prison.

"Obviously, I am disappointed that the jury couldn't reach a
verdict," Baytieh said. "I heard what they had to say. This is a tough
case with a lot of emotional components, and I look forward to
presenting the case again the best way I know how."

Valencia was working as a food server at Sombrero's, a small Mexican
restaurant in Stanton, when she went into labor and gave birth Dec. 22,
2009.

After delivering the baby in the eatery's restroom, Valencia cleaned
up the bathroom, called her sister and told her she had a heavy period,
prosecutors said.

She then suffocated the newborn and put her in a plastic bag before
throwing her body in a trash bin behind the restaurant, Baytieh said.
Authorities found the baby's body and the mother's placenta in the trash
bin the next day.

"There isn't a person who said she is not guilty of anything,"
Baytieh said after speaking with jurors. "I think the five people who
said she was not guilty of second-degree murder, (for them) there was a
reasonable doubt the baby died during childbirth and that she had no
idea she was giving birth to a baby."
The jury of five men and seven women deliberated about two days in an
emotional case that made some of them angry and left others in tears, a
juror said afterward.

Adriana Ceja of Santa Ana said she had one of the "most horrifying
weekends" because she felt Valencia had to be held accountable for her
actions. She favored second-degree murder but voted against first-degree
because she didn't believe Valencia strangled the baby, she said.

Ceja and juror Krista Sugerman of Trabuco Canyon, who voted for
first-degree murder, said Valencia failed to take action during and
after birth.

"She failed to be a mother," Ceja said, "She did nothing but threw (the baby) in the trash."

A mother "owes a duty when the baby is born," Baytieh said in his
closing argument. "She threw her in the trash like a piece of garbage."

Valencia had just turned 19 and was a Western High School junior at the time of the 2009 incident, her defense attorneys said.

They argued Valencia hardly led a dream life, including living in a cramped two-bedroom apartment with eight others.

While they said their client did what nature dictated when she went
into labor, Baytieh countered nature compels parents to protect their
children, not murder them.

The defense asserted Valencia was a "naïve, inexperienced girl" who
"inadvertently" suffocated the infant during the unassisted birth.

"How do you convict somebody of a wrongful killing when (they're)
trying to deliver a child?" asked Calvin Schneider, Valencia's second
defense attorney.

http://www.ocregister.com/articles/valencia-338042-baby-restaurant.html

Mom faces retrial in baby-dumping case



Jurors deadlocked six months ago in the trial of Juana Perez Valencia, 21, of Anaheim.

http://www.ocregister.com/news/baby-361709-valencia-degree.html

SANTA ANA – After jurors deadlocked six month ago, a new jury is expected to be empanelled this week for a woman accused of suffocating her newborn and dumping the girl's body into a trash can.

The impasse prompted Superior Court Judge Thomas Goethals to declare a mistrial for Juana Perez Valencia, 21, of Anaheim, who then faced one count of first-degree murder and one of assault on a child with force likely to produce great bodily injury resulting in death.




Dec. 24, 2009 - Early Thursday morning, television crews filed their story about the dumping of a newborn baby in a trash bin, foreground. Sheriff's deputies today were investigating the death of a newborn baby found in a trash bin behind a restaurant in Stanton.

In January, jurors voted 10-2 in favor of not guilty on first-degree murder, 7-5 for guilty on the lesser second-degree murder charge and were evenly split on the assault.

Deputy District Attorney Ebrahim Baytieh said during trial the 6-pound, 5-ounce, 17-inch baby was not part of Valencia's life plans and that she failed in her motherly duty to protect the infant. He will retry the case on a second-degree murder theory.

That Valencia gave birth Dec. 22, 2009, to the baby in the restroom of a small Mexican restaurant in Stanton and disposed of the newborn was not in dispute. While the prosecutor argued she suffocated the baby, the defense contended the baby died during childbirth.

Valencia was 19 and a Western High School junior at the time of the birth, her defense said, asserting she was a "naïve, inexperienced girl" who "inadvertently" suffocated the infant during the unassisted birth.

Anaheim Woman, 21, Sentenced To Prison For Killing Newborn Baby
November 9, 2012 2:56 PM

(CBSLA.com) — An Anaheim woman was sentenced to 15 years to life in prison on Friday for killing her baby after giving birth in an Orange County restaurant where she worked.
KNX 1070′s Mike Landa reports Juana Perez Valencia was convicted of second-degree murder and child assault causing death on Sept. 28.

read more:
http://losangeles.cbslocal.com/2012/11/09/anaheim-woman-21-sentenced-to-prison-for-killing-newborn-baby/