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A Tarrant County jury sentenced a 17-year-old girl Friday for the 2021 killing of her newborn after delivering the baby at home.
The teenager, unidentified because of her age, received a 15-year sentence after facing a capital murder charge. She pleaded true — the juvenile equivalent of a guilty plea — and admitted to killing her child. The girl faced up to 40 years in prison and will be sent to the Texas Juvenile Justice Department.
Prosecutors sought to have the teen tried as an adult, but District Judge Alex Kim denied the request, officials from the Tarrant County district attorney’s office said in a release.
The teen, then 15, delivered a baby girl on Sept. 9, 2021, in the bathroom at her family’s Fort Worth home, officials said. The teen and her baby were then taken to a local hospital.
The baby, named Dayana, had a skull fracture and was hemorrhaging, officials said. She lived about six hours before she was pronounced dead, according to the release.
The Tarrant County medical examiner’s office ruled the baby’s death as a homicide due to blunt force injuries of the head. Prosecutors had said the teen beat her baby.
A review of the teen’s cell phone showed messages between her and the baby’s father saying neither parent wanted the baby, according to the release. The two discussed methods of getting rid of the baby, including by taking abortion pills or punching the mother in the stomach, officials said.
The teen also wrote in the messages that said she could wrap the baby “in a towel and hit it,” prosecutors said.
The teen has since had another baby that was taken from her by Child Protective Services, according to the release.
As the verdict was read, the teen gripped the hand of defense attorney Lisa Herrick and cried, according to a statement from the Varghese Summersett law firm.
Herrick said in the statement that the teen “was a naive 15-year-old girl who made a mistake, got pregnant and thought her deeply religious parents would disown her.” Defense attorneys had said the girl’s “strict religious upbringing” and the father’s encouragement influenced her decision-making.
“She hid her pregnancy, had the baby in the bathroom of her parent’s home, and then panicked,” Herrick added. “She has taken responsibility for her conduct and is deeply remorseful.”
The law firm’s release criticized police for not filing a criminal case against the girl until November 2023. The baby’s father did not face any charges in the case.
“It is extremely unfair and unjust that this girl was charged with capital murder and that the baby’s father got off scot-free,” defense attorney Frank Adler said in a statement.
The defense team noted that in the two-year span since the baby’s death, the teen delivered another child with a different father. They added that she loves the child, who was placed with a family member, and “has done everything Child Protective Services has asked of her so she could have supervised visitation.”
The teen, who turns 18 next week, has received sex education, parenting classes and individual counseling, the law firm’s release said.
Before the girl’s 19th birthday, the judge will determine whether she’ll be transferred to an adult prison or released on parole.