Woman Accused Of Trying To Suffocate Baby In Plastic Bag After Giving Birth

By Emma G. Gallegos in News on Dec 11, 2015 4:30PM

Xin Zeng (Photo courtesy of the Cook County Sheriff's Office)

A Morton Grove woman has been charged with attempted murder after police say she stuffed her newborn baby in a plastic bag and hid him under a pile of towels. Police and paramedics responding swiftly were able to find and revive the minutes-old boy in what authorities are calling "an absolute miracle."

Authorities were called to the scene on Nagel Avenue on Monday by someone reporting a heavily bleeding pregnant woman, the Tribune reports. Xin Zeng, a 21-year-old college student living with her parents, refused to speak with authorities who responded to the scene, and they weren't sure if she had given birth.

A fire lieutenant began looking through the home and found a baby boy in a plastic bag tied shut with a towel wrapped around it underneath a pile of towels in the bathroom. Authorities believe the baby was no more than 15 minutes old, but was for all purposes dead at that moment.

"The baby was blue and lifeless," Police Cmdr. Paul Yaras told the Tribune. "The lieutenant cut the baby out of the bag and gave the baby off to one of the other paramedics."

The baby was revived and is in good condition at a local hospital. Zeng was arrested and charged with first-degree attempted murder. She's expected in court Jan. 4, according to CBS Chicago.

The case partly echoes that of a 19-year-old in Uptown who tossed her newborn out of the window of her high-rise last month. The woman named Mubashra Uddin says because of her strict religious upbringing, she felt pressure to keep her pregnancy under wraps.

Yaras said that women like Zeng can avoid prosecution if they relinquish their babies at hospitals and police and fire stations up to 30 days after giving birth. He told the Tribune, "We have plenty of support out there for young mothers. It's sad. She had the opportunity to get help for herself and get care as well. There's help out there for them and they can get it."