Mother Enters Not Guilty Plea to Attempted Murder of Newborn
A young woman who gave birth in a motel room and then allegedly put the premature newborn into a toilet has pleaded not guilty to attempted murder and child endangerment charges.
Karen Jeanette Jackson, 20, entered her plea in Santa Monica Superior Court on Thursday, where she has been ordered to stand trial on the charges. Judge Bernard A. Kamins scheduled a July 7 pretrial hearing.
Prosecutors believe that Jackson, who is in custody in lieu of $530,000 bail, had been hiding her pregnancy from her boyfriend when she went into labor March 26 at a Culver City motel. She apparently told her boyfriend she was having a miscarriage when she went into the bathroom, leaving a trail of blood, and then gave birth.
Paramedics found the newborn girl in the toilet after responding to a 911 call from Jackson’s boyfriend.
Dubbed “Baby Girl Jackson,” the two months-premature infant was hospitalized and later released to the custody of the Department of Children and Family Services.
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