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PROUD PARENTS: IN THE NEWS
Pictured above is Jessica Cruz, the 19 year old that admits to concealing her pregnancy, birthing the child in a Salvation Army bathroom, putting it in a garbage bag and tying it off at the child’s neck, all before placing it in a garbage can and covering it with paper towels to die. It is believed the child died just 6 minutes after birth. Share this story with everyone you know using the buttons below. Shine light on this horrible crime and maybe, just maybe, this woman will get the life sentence she deserves. Keep reading for the full news story..
Courtesy of DailyHerald.com
Written by Barbara Vitello , Lee Filas and Kimberly Pohl
Less than 6 minutes.
Prosecutors say that was the life span of the full-term, newborn boy whose 19-year-old mother is accused of strangling moments after she gave birth Friday in the employee restroom of a Streamwood Salvation Army store.
Cook County Judge Jill Cerone Marisie on Wednesday ordered the baby’s mother, Jessica Cruz, held without bail as she awaits trial on charges of first-degree murder and the concealment of a homicide death.
The ruling came during a hearing in which Cook County Assistant State’s Attorney Maria McCarthy detailed the brief life and violent death of the infant, which she said “resulted from exceptionally brutal or heinous behavior indicative of wanton cruelty.”
Cruz, of the 2000 block of Osage Lane in Hanover Park, could face a sentence ranging from 20 years to life in prison if convicted.
The Hanover Park woman entered the Salvation Army store at 1080 S. Barrington Road about 10 a.m. Friday and asked to use the restroom, McCarthy said. She gave birth in the employee restroom and, without even determining the gender of the child, put the newborn into a garbage bag, tied the bag tightly around his neck, placed him in a trash can and covered him with paper towels.
Cruz attempted to clean up the blood, then left the store. A short time later, she entered a second store about a half mile away and used the restroom to clean up, McCarthy said. Video surveillance at the second store shows the defendant entering the store and restroom on the morning of Nov. 4, McCarthy said.
Four witnesses at that store identified Cruz as the woman, while three witnesses from the Salvation Army store identified Cruz in a lineup as the woman who used the restroom there.
In a videotaped statement to police, Cruz said she concealed her pregnancy from everyone except for the baby’s father, McCarthy said. Cruz further admitted that the baby was alive and moving when she put him in the garbage bag and tied it around his neck.
A Salvation Army employee discovered the newborn, who weighed 6 pounds, 11 ounces and was 18 inches long, about 1:20 p.m. Friday, said Streamwood Deputy Police Chief James Keegan.
Prosecutors claim Cruz deceived investigators by identifying herself as her mother and stating she had not seen her daughter in four months when a detective called asking about her whereabouts. Cruz later admitted the lies, McCarthy said.
Police arrested Cruz Tuesday morning at her Hanover Park home and she remains the “sole person charged in this incident at this point,” Keegan said.
Authorities say Cruz, who graduated high school earlier this year, has no criminal background. She next appears in court on Dec. 2.
Several neighbors said they don’t recall ever seeing a young pregnant woman around the two-story home on Osage Lane where police say Cruz lived. However, they believe Cruz could have recently started staying there as one of the many temporary borders known to come and go.
Others who participate in the village’s Neighborhood Watch program said that aside from a few occasions when loud music was a nuisance, there haven’t been any problems at the home.
Hanover Park Deputy Police Chief Tom Cortese said police haven’t been called to the home or received overcrowding complaints.
“It’s not been a problem for us,” he said.
Several people who answered the door at Cruz’s residence said they were instructed by police not to talk to anyone and declined to comment.
Emmanuel Nwabuego, who lives across the street, said his wife regularly brings leftover food from the couple’s church to the husband, wife and children who’ve lived at the home for several years. He’d never seen anyone matching Cruz’s description, either.
“There are new faces all the time, but I’ve never seen a pregnant person,” Nwabuego said. “They’ve always been quiet, nice neighbors.”
A Cook County assistant medical examiner ruled the death a homicide with strangulation as the cause of death. The medical examiner indicated the victim was born alive and survived between 3½ and 6 minutes, McCarthy said.
46 Comments to PROUD PARENTS: IN THE NEWS
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Jeez! Has nobody ever heard of adoption?? This is cruel beyond words.
Sick. We should put her in a garbage bag and tie it around her neck. Save everyone a whole lot of money and trouble.
I think I’m going to be sick. This made me cry. I have 4 kids of my own and I can not imagine what goes through peoples minds when they do things like this. You went through all the trouble to carry it and give birth to it why not just drop it off at the hospital or fire house or police station? No questions asked and the baby gets to live.
It is very easy to condemn this child for her actions, especially since the Salvation Army would have helped her immediately with adoption or whatever other services she needed. She was obviously very frightened, and living in a special sort of hell that most of us, God willing, will never know. She committed a dreadful, dreadful crime, and she will pay for it for ever. May the Lord have mercy on her soul, and the soul of her infant son.
I just find it so hard to believe anyone would do this. With safe haven laws a crime like this should never happen. all she had to do was hand the baby over at any hospital, police station or firehouse and she could walk away and never think of it again. that little boy could have had a loving family by christmas.
Agreed, Lady Anne.
This just goes to show that our young people need to be better prepared for this world. She indeed had many other options (including contraceptives), but this is the route she chose out of fear/naivete. Please parents, educate and prepare your kids!
In Illinois there is the ‘safe law’ where you can drop off an infant with no questions asked to places like hospitals, police stations, fire houses, etc. You just walk in and hand someone the baby and that is the end of it. You don’t even have to say word one. There was NO reason at all for this crime to have happened. Why didn’t she just take the baby to a hospital and drop it off?
That’s no exuse they have safe haven places she could had left the baby.
You idiots do realize that they believe the baby died within 6 minutes of birth. It surely took her more than six minutes to cut the cord recover and clean herself enough to place the baby in the trash. True, she made a big mistake by concealing it, if she had medical help the baby might have lived. She was clearly wrong. But get over yourselves, there’s no proof she murdered the kid.
Many girls are afraid off what their families will think of them, or do to them if they become pregnant without being married.
She was scared of something that is clear, at the age of 19 though she certainly knew better and still made the choice to both conceal a pregnancy and kill the child. She did kill him by not looking for medical help during her pregnancy or while giving birth, so she is at fault. Is it murder? I don’t know, but she needs to be held accountable for her actions.
Umm yes there is proof that she killed her baby otherwise why did she tie the bag off at his neck. They said the cause of death was strangulation which happened b/c of the bag being tied at his neck which his mother did. Even if that had not been the case it is still her fault the baby is dead since she did nothing to help save his life. She did not need to clean herself up before she put the baby in the bag and then the trash. Plus the article says she went to another store to get herself cleaned up a few minutes after she left the Salvation Army.
I love how in all the other “proud parents in the news”
posts commenters rip the parent(s) to shreds, but just because she was a 19 year old girl, people take pity. She said the baby was moving when she put him in the bag and tied it tightly around his defenseless head, leaving him to rot in a dumpster. People who murder those who cannot defend themselves are scum, parents who murder their own defenseless newborns even though they could have easily been adopted into a loving home are worse than scum.
I’m with Stef on this one.
She could have done the Safe Haven program, or there’s this other program where you can leave a baby with the police or at a firestation and remain anonymous. This child could have had a life, but instead this woman prefered to end it in a hideous, torturous way. She should get life in prison.
Forget life in prison. Tie a bag around her neck and throw her off a pier. There is a fire station right next door to where I am currently staying. Sign right on there that says they are one of those safe surrender places. Her age doesn’t excuse her actions.
Try as I might, I cannot imagine what was going through this young woman’s mind as she left that precious baby in the trash to die. It just seems so fundamentally worng it defies understanding. How much research has been done on mothers/parents who murder their newborns? Not that there is any excuse, but perhaps if we knew more about why people to do this, we could do more in the way of prevention. Of course, some people are just plain evil; we can only hope to contain them.
This is a tragic story. The REAL sad part is that there are 2 police stations about a mile or so from where this evil demon did this. There is also a hospital about 2 miles from here also. If she did not want the baby, she could have dropped the baby off there, and no questions asked. Illinois has a law saying that you can drop of infants at “safe zones” in you do not want them. This law was passed to prevent such herious crimes. May she rot!!!
what
the
fuck
is
wrong
with
people?!?!?!?!
Put her in prison with the words “Baby killer” tattooed on her face where it can’t be covered up. Let the prisoners do the rest.
“Shine light on this horrible crime and maybe, just maybe, this woman will get the life sentence she deserves.”
Dude, do you understand how the justice system works in this country? (the USA, for our overseas friends)
Why do women come here just to expose themselves to material that they KNOW will upset them and make them cry and feel bad all day? Women are fuckin’ crazy.
You remember that law & Order SVU show where every single victim was an adorable little girl with “anal trauma” or “vaginal tearing”? That show was fucking sick and it was all women who loved watching it. I really don’t get it. What’s the appeal?!
I think maybe it was the Benson character, and the way he’d roll up his sleeves in the interview room and fold his arms and you could see that boat anchor tattoo or whatever it was poking out just a little and women would love the idea of a man like him defending them.
It’s all really, really gross fantasy shit, way more disgusting than any TV show for men. I mean, men see titties and yell “WOO” and it’s a ratings bonanza, men are pretty easy to please and it’s all dumb, simple stuff, all above board.
I don’t get that show and I don’t get this site. Some of the more harmless photos shown here are kinda funny, some of them just make me shake my head… but articles like this? I don’t understand how this is so popular that you can build a site around it.
girls in yoga pants however, I can completely understand.
Wait… Stabler, Stabler was the guy in SVU… Benson was the woman.
Anyway, you got the gist I’m sure.
OMG what is this world comming to what the heeeelllll are these women doing there are so many ways that they could of handled this differently. ihave a daughter that just turned 1 =) this breaks my heart to pieces. i cried when i saw this and the one about the women who disposed of her 13 month old baby something needs to be done about this asap this is wickedness they deserve the most possiable sentence id make them even sit there after they pass in jail and keep them in a celll not resting in peace if anything we would be helping them out by holding them from the rath of god and satin i cant believe this im so hurt that those poor innocent little blessing from the lordhimself that was not an action of god he had plans for those little babys….please any mother out there that is having trouble is keeping a pregnancy conceled or what not pllllllleeeeease i we beg of you to not kill your own blood you heartless people adoption, family, and the state would of and will help you either coup. with it or help you become a mother like you were ment to be if you dont want kids either get you tubes tide or be responiable plllease horriable people sorry it was so long it just deeplyhurts me to hear about these things=((( god bless those little babies now they are somewheres were they will never be harmed and love like there should have been the crimanal justice ppl better not give them a slap on the hand cause i will go to the cook county court of whatever and protest and then go to the white house and try to personally speak with whom ever deals with the crimes and demand justice for these babies and god forbid anyother babies who have or please not in the future. People need saving
Ch’booie, you are a dumbass. No matter what we try to tell ourselves, we are all morbidly fascinated with tragedy.
As sad as this is, this could become far more frequent if certain people have their way. This could have never happened if this girl had access to affordable family planning services like birth control and abortion. If these are taken away, we’ll see an unfortunate rise in these kinds of crimes.
It happened prior to Roe v. Wade, where women were dying from back-alley abortions and killing their newborns because they had no other option (and no, adoption usually isn’t a good option in America as kids in the foster system lose IQ points for every month they spend in the system and are more likely to become delinquents than any other group).
What she did was wrong and it didn’t have to happen, but if we don’t do something to fight those horrible people who want to remove rights from women, it will happen again, and again, and again.
We don’t have to feed that curiosity if it’s ultimately pointless and does more harm to us than good.
Again, why do women come here if they know they’ll be horribly upset?
Why do women love tragedy all the more when the victims are little children?
She is a waste. I have five babies and it is unfathomable that someone could do something so hideous, poor poor baby.
I am not sure what is worse: the story about the child who killed a child or the comments I have read on this board.
Whatever it was that drove the child to do this she deserves our pity and not our judgement. That goes double for the commentators who want to kill her the same way she killed the child.
i dont care how old she is she is evil pure evil she could have set up adoption droped the baby to a safe place and her family would not know no one seemed to know she was prego why chose murder when she had so many other options she is evil if not i want to ask a women who has done this why now you get to go to jail rather then hand over the baby to anyone drop the kid at a gas station just dont kill she is of the devil pure evil and anyone who does the same
abortions people.
I’m against abortion, BUT, it would’ve been more humane than this! but then again since im against abortion its true she couldve given the child to the hospital or give it up for adoption.
Life sentence? Fuck that shit, kill that bitch
@ red…. if the death was ruled homicide, they have proof the baby was killed by her actions. Shame on you for defending her.
I think that she should get the death penalty. No mercy, no psych evaluation, no insanity plea!! I put her up there with all the other sick woman who took the lives of innocent children, Susan Smith, Andrea Yates, Casey Anthony Etc…. I am a woman who waited 14 yrs for my son and I could never, ever have done anything like this to him!!!! That bi$@h is not going to heaven she is going to hell!!!!
Em, I think that what she did is a desperate act…but,man, she needs help more than a life sentence in jail! Who is the most cruel? All of you crucifying her without even knowing what is her life like, or this troubled young woman who did the unthinkable because she was not able to figure out what else to do?
This is heartbreaking.
I really, honestly think that with the rise in teen pregnancies, we should be educating our daughters on things like Safe Haven, adoption, birth control, and even abortion. I graduated High School less than 10 years ago, and none of these things were ever even discussed at any point. I went to two different high schools that had full day cares so teen mothers could attend, so it wasn’t like teen pregnancy was a non-issue. (Yes – this should be the job of the parents, but parents don’t do their job, and someone has to!)
That being said, this girl should fry. I don’t care how naive you are, it’s never okay to murder anybody, never mind a newborn baby. If you’re a human being who thinks this is in any way, shape, or form okay, you shouldn’t be walking with the masses.
i have seen so very many horrible things/ we all know this world is goin 2 shit.but yet all girls/women lay down spread eagle,then…oh no what happened, everyone has troubles of some sort lots of us say oh poor me. but THINK jeeeez look @ that baby and then had 2 say @ some moment im gonna kill it. i hope jury takes just a min. 2 give her death penalty!!!!
For those of you who opine that abortion would have been a less violent death for this infant, kindly educate yourself on the subject.
For those of you who opine that abortion would have been a humane way to kill the infant, kindly educate yourself on the subject.
What was the baby’s crime? Being born?
Oh so you guys think this is wrong but not abortion??? Yea, seems so legit.
This is horrible, obviously, and abortion is the same. All these people just need to take responsibility for their actions, even if they are teens. I am, and if I got pregnant [Which, I'm glad to say, is not currently possible!] there would be no way I’d kill my child in any way for any reason. It is the absolute worst thing anyone can do, and I can’t believe it’s really allowed to any extent!
I guess the only thing I am truly curious about is at what point is anyone of us certain she even knew what a safe haven was? Did anyone ever tell her? If not then she may not have known that this was an option. If she was lost and desperate, afraid, ashamed, or just psycho without the knowledge that there is another choice that would mean she had only the one reaction. Knowledge is only good if the knowledge is imparted to those that need it.
as sad and unfortunate as all this is, i think it is VERY judgmental of all of you people talking about how this girl is a waste and how she is a horrible person. First, for all you that call yourselves Christians isn’t it stated in your holy book that only god can judge people. So he who is without sin caste the first stone. Second no this girl probably felt she didn’t have options since many towns across the United States have family Planning Programs that are underfunded or just not there. Tragedies like this show more of systemic issues that are instilled in American Culture than how this person is horrible.So while this is a horrible thing to have happened you people do not have the right to be one here talking shit about some little girl that one was probably not able to afford the child and would have had to be supported by taxpayers anyway and two that this girl was probably uneducated which is a real issue of American Public School since most Americans still believe that Columbus found America)about laws where she is able to drop off a child at a hospital. so Blame the system that has enabled crimes like this to happen. and let god judge the girl.
Abortion is not the same thing as strangling your child and dumping it in a trashcan. There is clearly something wrong with this woman though. If she did not think abortion was an option or waited too long and couldn’t get it, there were so many other options she could have chosen. She could have dropped the baby at a hospital or even a fire department…something. She could have done adoption. She chose to strangle her baby and you have to be a pretty screwed up person to do that.
I hope she gets natural life, or at least gets more than 20 years. As for that poor innocent little baby, I would have adopted him/her in a heartbeat
“judgement is mine saith the Lord” Not a single one of you here have a right to pass judgement on this girl, NOT A SINGLE ONE!!!!