U.S. News

New mom charged with attempted murder

Published: Feb. 16, 2012 at 5:37 PM

PHILADELPHIA, Feb. 16 (UPI) -- A mother who allegedly abandoned her newborn baby in a cardboard box left on a street has been charged with attempted murder, Philadelphia police said.

Patricia Crawley was linked by DNA evidence to the girl called "Baby Noel" and charged Wednesday. The baby was found by a street-cleaning crew Dec. 21 and is in foster care after 10 days in St. Christopher's Hospital's neo-natal intensive care unit, the Philadelphia Daily News reported Thursday.

"As part of the charging process, doctors were consulted multiple times, and in fact this baby was very much in danger of dying out there, just before Christmas, in a box left on the street in cold temperatures. It doesn't get any worse than that," said Capt. John Darby of the Philadelphia Police Special Victims Unit.

The DNA match and an explanation of the baby's grave condition doctors provided police were sufficient for the District Attorney's Office to approve an attempted murder charge, Darby said.

Topics: John Darby

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