Newborn Girl Beaten And Left To Die Outside Uptown High-Rise

By Emma G. Gallegos in News on Nov 13, 2015 4:02PM

A newborn baby girl was badly beaten before she was left to die in the cold outside a high-rise in Uptown late Wednesday night, according to the coroner.

A passer-by found the little girl in front of a building in the 800 block of West Eastwood Avenue at about 11:45 p.m. Wednesday. She was still alive when she was found, but she died shortly after being transported to a hospital just down the street. An autopsy determined the baby died of multiple blunt force injuries, according to the Tribune. The baby's death has been ruled a homicide.

Sources told ABC7 that the girl was abandoned in a patch of grass near a dumpster, and there was evidence of "embryonic" fluid nearby.

Police are looking for suspects in the case. Though there are three cameras at the apartment building, they may not have been in a position to catch whoever abandoned her.

Illinois safe haven laws allow babies up to 30 days old to be turned over to police stations, hospitals and other safe haven sites, no questions asked. Dawn Geras, the founder of the Save Abandoned Babies Foundation, told ABC that this was the second baby in eight days to be abandoned: "If we could save one baby, it would be worth it. And instead, today, I'm sitting here feeling responsible for one more baby's death."