N.C. A&T grad student, ex-girlfriend arrested after campus incident
{moshaloscan}
In a Dec. 4 press conference, North Carolina A&T Police Chief Glenn Newell discussed the charges filed against the
parents of the infant found the previous night in the Webb Hall parking lot at approximately 9:15 p.m.Newell stated that
the child was left unattended after mother Tekia Ritter, 23, and father Lashawn Murray, 25, had a disagreement over who
would be responsible for the custody of the child that night.
Murray is a native of Greensboro and is a graduate masters student in the School of Education at A&T.
Both parents have been charged with misdemeanor child abuse, according to Newell.
"Both parents acted in negligence and both were charged," Newell said. "This is still an ongoing investigation."
Newell stated that the parents met in the parking lot last night to rotate custody of the child. Ritter placed the child on top
of Murray's car, informing him that he would take the child. Murray said he would not, and Ritter left. Murray also left, but
then called the University Police Department, stating that Ritter left the child unattended.
Mariah Brown, an A&T freshman political science major, was shocked.
"I just feel like it was really irresponsible on both parents," Brown said. "If they didn't want the child, there are other
alternatives like adoption. Both parents should lose custody of the child."
In North Carolina, the Safe Haven Law allows for people to surrender infants for adoption legally and safely by dropping
them off at a nearby hospital or police station. The law allows parents to legally give up an unwanted infant anonymously
and safely. Its purpose is to encourage parents to deliver the infant to a safe place instead of abandoning it in a way that
may jeopardize the health of the infant.
"If you're man enough to [get a girl pregnant], you need to be man enough to take care of your child," sophomore
business management major Joel Williamson said. "This man is 25 years old, and he needs to take care of his child.
When you have a child, your life becomes your child's life. You always put your child first."
According to a local newspaper report, the child has been abandoned before. On Oct. 30, court records state that Ritter
left the child unattended on Murray's doorstep and drove away. She sent Murray a text message on that occasion telling
him the child was there.
The District Attorney's office is currently reviewing the situation.
{moshaloscan}Kelcie McCrae & Dexter R. Mullins write for The Register, The North Carolina A&T student newspaper,
which originally published a version of this article.
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Wow. They're both self-centered asshats, but the egg donor is an even bigger bitch than I thought. I hope that the baby is placed with a good, safe, loving family.

I know both of these parties and I dont think its right for what transpired that night, both of them should have thought a little more intelligently, unfortunately it was a game of cat and mouse, only this time it was a child involved which is terrible. It was a paternity issue for the father, which doesn't make it right, I can see where he was coming from but should have used other measures such as getting a blood test.....duh.....but the child being keep getting dropped off was a little much for the father who had just dropped the little girl off with the maternal grandfather just for the mother to go pick the child up and take the infant to insist the father in question to watch her. The mother just really was being stubborn and trying to force him to keep the child that obviously he did not want to keep and it bit her in the ass, and has partially ruined their lives, and I say partially because they can recover from this issue, but it will take time. And to all of you with the rude comments, If you dont know the situation dont speak on it. The media just presents you with a story edited by whomever, but never lays out the underlying facts which in turns make the situation look worst than it really is. Dont get me wrong, it was totally boneheaded on both parts and they both realize the awful mistake they have made and are moving forward!!

"If you dont know the situation dont speak on it."

Are you fucking serious??? They left an 11 week old infant and drove off. I don't give a rat's ass about any "underlying" issues that may have existed!

Whether or not this baby is his, any HUMAN BEING would care enough to make sure this innocent child was safe!

Well dumb is as dumb does..... :(

They are not too young I was 16 when my son was born and would never have done something like that wow makes you wonder about the world today

My gods, these MySpaces (hers and those of her friends) are all tributes to the making of babies! There's a 19 year old with a baby calendar! What is the world coming to??

In North Carolina (and other states I'm sure) someone accused of child abuse can be charged with a felony or a misdemeanor. In order to get the felony charge, there must be serious bodily injury. This couple were charged with the same misdemeanor someone would have gotten had they passed out while babysitting.

14?318.2. Child abuse a Class 1 [A1] misdemeanor.

(a)Any parent of a child less than 16 years of age, or any other person providing care to or supervision of such child, who inflicts physical injury, or who allows physical injury to be inflicted, or who creates or allows to be created a substantial risk of physical injury, upon or to such child by other than accidental means is guilty of the Class A1 misdemeanor of child abuse.

Welcome to the site.

I'm new here and first want to say that I love this site. I've been reading in silence for about a week and I must say that I am very impressed by the intelligent comments posted. However, for the first time I have something to say that no one else has mentioned. WTF? Why are these people only charged with misdemeanor child abuse? That baby could have been killed if someone pulled into that parking spot without having time to realize a BABY in a CARSEAT!!!! Especially since it was night and already dark outside.

This bitch has a Myspace, and ironically has one of those Truth Boxes that let you tell you what you think of her without anonymously. Boy, did I let her know and you can too! Here is her Myspace;


http://www.myspace.com/1tekia

Two more people who can figure out how to join genitals and then are surprised when a baby pops out. That poor baby -- with a gene puddle like Tekia and LaShawn's in her heritage, she may have a rough road ahead.

Yeah..I have to say, that I was a better parent at 32 that I was at 23. Still even when I was a young parent, I would never have left my baby on some dudes car just to make a point. Theyre both rediculously self-important and vengeful. Poor kid, hope her future starts lookin brighter.

These two are the same age as my wife and I. Is my age group getting stupider or something. These asshats don't deserve that beautiful little girl. Though I do hope they don't get her back. I definitely know I got over my fear of having children at this time, but now I am ready to welcome my twins to the world on the 24th.

But these two, they make me sick to my stomach, so do all the others lately hurting and killing their children.

Seems to me that women, regardless of age, need to quit having babies with men who don't want them. In is pure insanity to have a baby with an idiot and then hold him to such a high standard. If women would stop this shit, they won't have to be so mad and disappointed. Dumbasses!

I'd be surprised if it was his child's safety he was thinking about. I think he was pissed that his baby momma tried to pull some shit like this and wanted to get her in trouble.

Wow. You cant just decide when you want to be a parent. Who cares if either of these asshats had plans for the night, you dont just abandon a baby in a parking spot because you want to go out! Its called responsibility. Say it with me, responsibility. Yes, that means that you just may have to break your plans and stay home with the baby. Really, its not that big of a deal. The club will still be there next weekend when you can actually find someone willing to babysit. Your friends will understand, and if they dont, f*&^ 'em. Your baby should mean more to you than that.
And at least, thank God, the dad called police to let them know there was a child left alone in a parking lot. Even though the asshole should have taken his daughter with him and he deserves an ass whoopin' for leaving her there, at least he was thinking about her safety on some level.

I sincerely hope this baby finds a loving home with parents who want her around at all times of the day and night.

I just wish Selfish Assclowns like Tekia and Lashawn wouldn't procreate. period.

Age has nothing to do with how you raise your children.

While I understand what you're getting at (age is no excuse), this statement is inaccurate. Age impacts EVERYTHING - how you pick your relationships, how you handle employment, how you drive, etc., etc. Again, the brain doesn't even stop developing until you're 25. No one escapes that.

I don't intend to make this about individual parents that post here. They deserve neither my scrutiny nor my gold star. However, my statement that there are inherent risks associated with young people having children is fact, whether or not it applied to you, just like there is an inherent risk to having a child at 45, whether or not that applies to you.

I had my first child at 17, the father was almost 5 years older then me, I stayed with the father for 9 years and was 3 months shy of being married to him when I left (because he cheated on me when I was 8 months pregnant with our 2nd child). Age has nothing to do with how you raise your children. The one I had at 17 is a straight A student and very bright.

I'm married to someone who's almost 5 years younger then me now, he's only 24. We also have two kids together and have been married for almost 3 years. He's a wonderful father and husband. I had kids at the age of 17, 24, 26 and 27 and all of them are well adjusted smart kids. I have a good education same goes for my husband, none of us lack anything in life and live far better then most people do.

Age and statistics are no excuse to abuse your children. Life is what you choose to make of it and they clearly made the choice what they wanted to do.

Yes and no, backlash. The brain doesn't even stop developing until 25. Marriages between people their age have a 95% divorce rate. Child neglect and abuse rates are significantly higher among people their age than age groups just a mere couple years older.

Of course I'm not saying that people their age are guaranteed to be bad parents, but the odds are so much greater, I don't think we should act as though their age has no bearing. Yeah, older adults pull this kind of shit, too, but not NEARLY as frequently.

This is one of the few cases where this could have been uglier than this. I'm glad that the sperm donor at least had enough good sense to call the cops if nothing else. I hope she's placed with a family that will truly love and appreciate her.

I was 22 when I had my first child, and I thought that I was doing pretty good--considering that I was over the age of 18 plus some. In fact, I don't really think those ages (23 and 25) are particularly "young" where childbearing is concerned. Most of the people I know had kids around that same age, and they're all wonderful parents. So, I have to largely agree with backlash. They obviously lack the maturity needed--and the willingness to sacrifice--to care for a child. I think that can be said for most of the parents featured on this site for similar (or worse) reasons regardless of age.

I don't think that they are too young to have kids. I do think that they are too immature to have kids. Semantics...

And this is the problem with young people having kids. They're too concerned about "kickin' it" these days, to the point that they feel it's a "right". Luckily for the children in this country, a lot of these young parents have friends or family who will take the kid for periods of time. But when young parents don't have that luxury, it seems more and more they're not letting that stop 'em. Sad.

that's just disgusting. they should both be sterilized.

Tweedle-dee and Tweedle-dumbass shouldn't be caring for a gerbil, let alone a tiny human being. Idiots.