Matisha Goens abandoned her baby at Chicago Police department

**Valasca** · January 2nd, 2010, 09:27 PM

And they want to find the parents!

Chicago police have released a new color photo of the baby girl abandoned at a Southside police station yesterday afternoon.

Take a look at that sweet face. Somebody must recognize this child, now officially known as Baby Jane Doe.

Baby Jane was left in the vestibule of the 3rd police district yesterday afternoon at about 4 p.m.

She was in a black and silver Baby Trend Expedition stroller with a multi-colored Winnie the Pooh blanket. She had on a pink jacket with butterflies and a jumper with an ABC print

http://www.examiner.com/x-7520-Chica...tion?#comments

I made a comment on there...
Evonne says:

DO NOT look for the parents. Otherwise pregnant teens aren't going to use Safe Haven and murder the babies in fear of being looked for.
DO NOT LOOK FOR THE PARENTS!
At least this angel is safe.

**Pete Bondurant** · January 2nd, 2010, 09:35 PM

I'll take it.

It will probably end up cleaning my apartment anyway.

**totallytoddler** · January 2nd, 2010, 10:10 PM

Aw..thats so sad...she is NOT a newborn...and she looks well fed...but who knows. There might be much more to this story....maybe the parents didnt abandon her...hope to hear more as this unfolds.

**OMalley** · January 2nd, 2010, 11:12 PM

What a sweet baby. Look at her eyes though...maybe she knows she's been abandoned, doesn't she look sad?

**crickett** · January 3rd, 2010, 12:42 AM

Can't they just keep her? o.k....just send her to my place. Lots of spoiling here.
And, seriously, she looks well taken care of. I hope that whoever was desparate enough to leave her is o.k.

**Valasca** · January 3rd, 2010, 12:46 AM

Honestly... how do I put Pete on ignore?

**Pene784** · January 3rd, 2010, 01:07 AM

I guess they need to know more about Mom and Dad to make sure they did not meet some kind of foul play ya know? It sucks though if the bio mom and dad did abandon her for one reason or another and now they will hunted down and publicly exposed, discouraging other parents from turning in their babies. I hope this turns out well.

**ImmortalOne** · January 3rd, 2010, 01:38 AM

Originally Posted by Amazon

Honestly... how do I put Pete on ignore?

ROFL it took me at least a year to understand Pete and his sense of humor... maybe longer.

**Silvahalo** · January 3rd, 2010, 03:47 AM

She's precious. Really, I'll take her, no questions asked. I think baby girl just looks confused, like who the heck are you and where is mama? Anything might have happened. I hope it's not bad, I really do.

**MadeaBecBec** · January 4th, 2010, 03:10 AM

Unknown, approximately 6 months old, Girl

The woman who left her at the Grand Crossing district station is believed to be between 18 and 24 years old. According to authorities, she went into the police station at 7th Street and Cottage Grove, mumbled something to the effect that she had forgotten something and would be right back. She never returned.

"After a few minutes, they realized the baby had been left behind. That's not a problem. We're glad she did that. She's a beautiful baby, and we've already had a ton of people calling to ask if it's possible to adopt. We don't deal in adoptions, but we would like to meet up with the mother and find out if she did this of her own will," said Lt. Laurel Bresnahan of the Chicago Police Department.

"The first thing we think about is, is the baby safe? Even though this is outside the parameters of the Safe Haven Law, we're thankful the parents tried to follow the spirit of the law, if not the letter, and that this baby is safe," the Save Abandoned Babies Foundation's Jessica Martinez said.

The Safe Haven Law says children 30 days old and younger can be left at hospitals, police or fire stations without fear of prosecution.

The infant girl is in a black and silver baby trend Expedition stroller. She was wearing a pink jacket with butterfly, covered by a Winnie the Pooh blanket.

Police say she was dressed for the cold weather and showed no signs of neglect.

Officers investigating the case are from the special victims unit and tell ABC7 Chicago they cannot be certain who the woman is and whether it was the parents' choice to leave the child behind.

Video here, too: http://abclocal.go.com/wls/story?sec...cal&id=7197841

The unidentified girl was left at the Grand Crossing police station, 7040 S. Cottage Grove Ave., about 3:50 p.m., according to police.

Police said two witnesses saw a woman who appeared to be 18 to 24, dressed in a black jacket and top, dark blue skinny jeans, a black skull cap and wearing boots with white fluffy fur trim come briefly inside with the stroller. She mumbled something to the effect of that she'd forgotten something and that she'd be "right back" but she never returned, according to police.

The baby is 25-inches long and weighs 17 pounds. She is Hispanic, has brown eyes and black hair, pierced ears and a light complexion.

http://cbs2chicago.com/local/baby.ja...2.1401434.html

Such a beautiful child, I hope her Mommy is okay and just knew that she would be better off this way! I'll take her and love and cherish her!
I will name her Akemi (means bright beauty)Dayanita (means tender)

**myra manes** · January 4th, 2010, 05:34 AM

Hopefully, by morning, LE finds the mother ..

**ScribbleMuse** · January 4th, 2010, 05:42 AM

Aww... no, I don't know her but I'll take her. (been getting serious baby-lust lately even tho I've had a full hysterectomy--further ammo in my hatred against women who abuse their kids!).

I still say that they need to make it easier for parents to give their children up for adoption if required. I know it's not ideal, but it seems like this may be a rare case of a young mom with no other options, whereas many women like her decide to torture or severely neglect their children instead of taking care of them. I hope that she is not charged, or otherwise punished. And I hope that whatever the situation, this child winds up in the best possible scenario, whether it be help for her natural mother or a proper home in an adoptive family. I do not believe that it should be as easy to reclaim a child if you give them up for adoption--too much upheaval, and it causes the limbo period of being in foster and temp homes perhaps rather than the permanent and loving adopting family (not that fosters cannot be loving--the majority ARE loving, but it's still upsetting to a child to constantly be shifted away from people, starting with their natural parents).

**Valasca** · January 5th, 2010, 09:46 PM

A woman who allegedly abandoned a 6-month-old baby at a South Side police station Friday afternoon was arrested on a warrant related to an earlier allegation she endangered the same child in September, 2009, police said.

Matisha Goens, 28, of the 7000 block of South Crandon Avenue, was arrested at her home Monday evening on the warrant issued after she failed to appear in court on Oct. 21. She was charged in September with endangering the health and welfare of a child, according to police.

In the September incident, police say Goens left the same child unattended in a car in a parking lot of a Secretary of State facility at 9901 S. King Dr.
She was located by police Monday after allegedly leaving the same 6-month-old infant girl in a stroller inside the Grand Crossing District police station, at 7040 S. Cottage Grove Ave., on Friday afternoon.

She has not been charged with anything as of Tuesday morning in Friday’s incident but police were still investigating.

http://www.nbcchicago.com/news/local...-80741022.html

**crickett** · January 5th, 2010, 09:59 PM

I still hope that she's o.k. She seemed to be trying to do the best thing for her daughter. The baby appears healthy, well fed and loved. I hope that they don't go too hard on her mommy.

**Pene784** · January 5th, 2010, 10:45 PM

I hope that they do not charge the mother with any crime in connection with this incident. I want them to set a precedent in this matter

**sheevaa** · January 7th, 2010, 04:09 AM

Yeah, let's arrest people for turning in their children responsibly instead of drowning/beating/tossing them in dumpsters! Good plan, LE!
That'll definitely make more people choose right for their kids.

**battery jackson** · January 7th, 2010, 04:11 PM

with the way this entire situation has been so poorly handled from beginning to end, i do believe it is appropriate for the one and only:

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2TiMtDhiJ2o"]YouTube- Nwa - fuck tha police[/ame]

**battery jackson** · January 7th, 2010, 04:12 PM

now imagine how worse it will be if the CHI police lower the bar.....

**MadeaBecBec** · January 19th, 2010, 12:50 AM

Matisha Goens has the Illinois welfare "experts" discussing an extension of the safe haven law (but not like Nebraska) which, to me is a good thing. I wonder why she didn't allow Ava Arie to go live with her Dad? Ava Arie is living with him now. The DA is being easy on her though, so maybe Matisha will get the help she needs, now.

On Jan. 4, Goens was arrested at her Chicago home in the 7000 block of South Crandon Avenue and charged with misdemeanor child neglect. In September, Goens was picked up on a similar charge when police allegedly found the same girl -- now with her father -- alone in a car at a Department of Motor Vehicles facility.

"On one hand, this child is well past" the legal limit of one month, said police Lt. Laurel Bresnahan, part of a Special Victims Unit on the case. "On the other hand, we see kids who have been hideously abused ... and this is exactly what you want a parent to do."

Also, I am inclined to ask, why Matishas mother did not intervene? Ermmm, she was so worried and all....

"She had doubts during her pregnancy," said Goens' mother, Delores Scott Goens. "She didn't know if she could do this ... and talked about adoption. But I thought things would get better once the baby was born."

The joy that usually accompanies a new arrival didn't happen for Matisha Goens, an unemployed pharmacy technician described by her mother as "loving, giving and respectful" until her mid-20s. That's when the young woman started exhibiting signs of mental illness. She had mood swings and delusions, which became darker and more frequent during her pregnancy, her mom said.

After Ava Arie was born, Matisha Goens grew increasingly isolated from her family, refusing to answer the phone or the door at her South Shore apartment.

"I feared for both my daughter and my granddaughter," her mom said.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/c...,5404913.story

Live happily and safely, Ava Arie! God Bless this child!

**Pene784** · January 19th, 2010, 01:00 AM

Ava Arie

I adore this baby's name. Beautiful.

**ImmortalOne** · January 20th, 2010, 01:26 PM

I'm guessing that Dad was a Deadbeat or something like that initially. Maybe told her he didn't want the baby. I am glad she took her in to the station and did what she could for her. Maybe she didn't see any other option. At least the child was put in a safe place.

**Saffron** · January 20th, 2010, 01:29 PM

Better a police station than a dumpster. I don't understand why people shouldn't be able to take kids to a safe place AT ANY AGE if their parents can't handle them. Better given up than abused or murdered... but they shouldn't be able to get them back under any circumstances either.

**Obsolete** · January 20th, 2010, 02:17 PM

Everytime a story like this appears, people start criticizing the police for trying to find the parents...and I'm going to say the same thing I always say. This baby could have been a kidnap victim whos abductors decided to get rid of the baby. There could have been a family searching for this child. The police have a responsibility to make sure this baby was willingly released by his/her parent.

...and the mother wasn't arrested because she left the baby at the police department, she was arrested on a prior warrant for leaving the baby unattended in a car.

**Athena** · January 20th, 2010, 06:04 PM

While I sympathize with the sentiment that children at any age should be eligible under Safe Haven laws, there's a fine line to walk, too. We can't be encouraging parents to abandon their responsibilities. The reality is, at any given moment in this country, there are over 600,000 children in the adoption and foster care systems, and we have difficulty handling that volume. If there were to be a spike... it could get ugly.

There's no easy answer. But we should be making birth control and abortion more widely available and adoption easier.