Teen charged with murder in baby drowning

**Jaded** · May 7th, 2008, 06:59 PM

BRIDGETON -- A 14-year-old Bridgeton teenager was charged Wednesday with murder for allegedly drowning her newborn child in a public toilet last weekend.

According to Cumberland County Prosecutor Ron Casella, the teenager, identified in a complaint by the initials "I.S.," was charged with purposely causing the death of her newborn baby boy during a Cinco de Mayo celebration Sunday at the Cumberland County Fairgrounds, in Millville.

"She was served with a complaint alleging murder. Specifically, she gave birth to the baby in a public toilet, then removed him from the working toilet bowl and placed him in the tank," Casella said Wednesday.

The teenager was allegedly hiding the pregnancy from her friends and family prior to the birth, which occurred between 8:15 and 8:30 p.m.

Casella said a friend of the family "suspected" the teenager was pregnant and notified the girl's father after reading about the discovery of the dead newborn.

The father then went to the police.

Casella said the teenager is in "some kind of custody," but as of Wednesday, was not being held at the county juvenile detention center.

http://www.nj.com/southjersey/index...._with_mur.html

**carol13** · May 7th, 2008, 09:54 PM

Great the family friend came through eventually, but god maybe they should have mentioned something when she was obviously pregnant, and everybody else was playing "see no evil."

**w8ng4msrgt** · May 7th, 2008, 10:08 PM

What I thought was sort of disturbing was seeing that picture of the little girl wearing the floaties right next to that article.

**Death Angel** · May 7th, 2008, 10:08 PM

OMFG i don't know why but this is like the worst thing i have ever heard of OMG :surprised::aww:

**Jaded** · May 7th, 2008, 10:10 PM

Originally Posted by Death Angel

OMFG i don't know why but this is like the worst thing i have ever heard of OMG :surprised::aww:

Stick around for awhile.....I'm sure you'll hear worse. :(

**~Absynthe~** · May 7th, 2008, 11:04 PM

How and the hell did the parents not know that she was pregnant? In my house my daughter and I share the feminine products, if she isn't using them then I would be asking her if she was pregnant. This girl being 14 surely didn't have a job to buy that stuff on her own, so I believe that at the least her mother should have fiqured it out. :grrrrrr:

**Death Angel** · May 7th, 2008, 11:17 PM

Originally Posted by ~Absynthe~

How and the hell did the parents not know that she was pregnant? In my house my daughter and I share the feminine products, if she isn't using them then I would be asking her if she was pregnant. This girl being 14 surely didn't have a job to buy that stuff on her own, so I believe that at the least her mother should have fiqured it out. :grrrrrr:

they say some ladys carry there baby in there "backs" its like the babys right in the center of them and not in the belly. my cousin had a bun in the oven and her mom didnt know till like 8 months when she TOLD her

**TheLittleFriend** · May 7th, 2008, 11:21 PM

Originally Posted by w8ng4msrgt

What I thought was sort of disturbing was seeing that picture of the little girl wearing the floaties right next to that article.

I know....it gave me creeps.

**CorruptedMistress** · May 7th, 2008, 11:22 PM

This happened 45 minutes from my house. We usually go to all the Cumberland County fairs but the area isn't the best place to be at night. What ashame that she felt the need to do that because our area offers a lot of confidential programs for teen moms.

**ImmortalOne** · May 8th, 2008, 06:37 PM

they say some ladys carry there baby in there "backs" its like the babys right in the center of them and not in the belly. my cousin had a bun in the oven and her mom didnt know till like 8 months when she TOLD her

This is very true actually, not everyone looks like they swallowed a basketball. With my first daughter, I was in my high school and some of my friends didn't even know I was pregnant with her till I told them AFTER she was born. "Oh you lost weight over the holiday!" ... "No I had an 8lb baby 4 days before Christmas".... "Oh! You were the senior that was pregnant but no one knew who it was?! Damn!"

However, yeah... Why didn't mom notice that she wasn't using the girly products? I have conversations with my 15 yr old about when her period is due and when do I need to buy more things! I guess my parenting methods must suck compared to this lady.

**Dakota Valkyrie** · May 8th, 2008, 09:29 PM

I was 5 months pregnant with twins and no one knew. 5'8" 120lbs. and still wore same clothes as before (adjusted a bit)... but no eventually the belly showed. Both were 5lbs when born 2 weeks before their due date.

As for feminine products... maybe they had separate bathrooms or didn't use the same brand?

**~Absynthe~** · May 8th, 2008, 09:53 PM

I have carried 4 children, all to full term and all differently. My smallest was 7lbs and the largest was 10lbs..so I have been there and done that. I still believe that the mother should have known or at the least suspected that her daughter was pregnant, yes she could had a different bathroom or used different supplies but one of the parents still had to purchase them. Maybe they were to busy trying to raise a family and keep the bills paid, I don't know. I feel sorry for them, not only did they lose a grandchild, you may as well say that they lost their daughter too.

**Nell** · May 8th, 2008, 09:58 PM

The only girl I know who hid a pregnancy from her parents and got away with it lived only with her dad. So I can see how he wouldn't know. She was only 14 and a big girl so she didn't really show. She just woke him up one night and told him she thought she had apendacitis. When they got to the hospital they told him, nope she is in labor. But dads aren't really looking at how many pads you use.

Maybe this girl has sisters and her mom thought as long as the pads were being used she must be one of the ones using them?

**Dakota Valkyrie** · September 25th, 2009, 07:16 AM

A Bridgeton teenager who left her newborn to die in a fairgrounds bathroom last spring will be sentenced on a downgraded charge of reckless manslaughter.

Isamar Sanchez, now 16, pleaded guilty to reckless manslaughter at a closed hearing Wednesday before Cumberland County Superior Court Judge Gary D. Wodlinger.

The hearing was closed because Sanchez is a juvenile.

Wodlinger scheduled sentencing for Monday. The hearing, in Family Court, will be closed to the public.

The crime took place May 4, 2008, just 10 days before Sanchez turned 15.

Sanchez initially was charged with first-degree murder. Her baby was born in a toilet bowl at the Cumberland County Fairgrounds in Millville and then placed in the toilet tank, prosecutors alleged.

County Prosecutor Ronald J. Casella announced the plea Thursday.

"What she admitted to was not taking any action," Casella said. "Not that she put him in the tank."

Sanchez' inaction, under her plea deal, includes not caring for the infant or checking to see the baby was breathing or asking for help from anyone.

The plea bargain agreement leaves sentencing to the judge's discretion.

"I don't think there is any satisfactory decision in a case like this," Casella said. "We sought to have her tried as an adult."

But, the prosecutor said, "you get into some proof problems as to her state of mind" at the time of the incident.

Sanchez's identity had been withheld because of her age until Thursday when the plea bargain was disclosed. She has been held at the county Juvenile Detention Center since May 2008.

Casella said the girl has never identified the baby's father. He said Sanchez's age when she became pregnant opens a question of whether the father committed a crime against Sanchez.

http://www.thedailyjournal.com/artic...WS01/909250306

**carolinablue** · September 25th, 2009, 07:57 AM

where were the cops and authority figures when a 13 or 14 year old girl got pregnant? what she did was horrible; but i can understand, not forgive or discount, her fear. it just makes me sick.

**mae** · September 25th, 2009, 09:55 AM

Originally Posted by ~Absynthe~

How and the hell did the parents not know that she was pregnant? In my house my daughter and I share the feminine products, if she isn't using them then I would be asking her if she was pregnant. This girl being 14 surely didn't have a job to buy that stuff on her own, so I believe that at the least her mother should have fiqured it out. :grrrrrr:

There are some assumptions here. She could have been using something like a reusable menstrual cup. And not everyone shares products. My mom had her own, my sister had her own, I had my own. My mom was not in my menstrual business. I could talk to her about it, I told her when I needed tampons but she would have not been paying attention to how many I use and when I use them.

It would have been really easy for this child to just toss out the pads and tampons and pretend she was using them.

People hide pregnancies all the time. While it may seem impossible to believe one could do that, people do. It's unfortunate she could not have left the infant alive or sought help. These situations are tragic.

**Chaindrive** · September 25th, 2009, 12:37 PM

Casella said the girl has never identified the baby's father. He said Sanchez's age when she became pregnant opens a question of whether the father committed a crime against Sanchez.

Hmmmmmmm.

**lundwall1** · September 25th, 2009, 01:02 PM

The entire story and situation is completely sad. The girl hid her pregnancy because she was scared - she was only 14. My aunt hid her preg. the entire 9mos when she was 20something - had an 8lb baby girl, who is now 34. But what that 14yr old did to that baby was HORRIBLE. What I have to wonder and think about is WHY did this girl feel like she ahd to do this? WHY could she not go to her parents?? Makes me wonder what home life was like as well...

**Dakota Valkyrie** · October 24th, 2009, 10:38 AM

A 16-year-old Bridgeton girl will spend almost 1 1/2 years in the Cumberland County Juvenile Detention Center for leaving her newborn to die in a restroom at the Cumberland County Fairgrounds in Millville last year.

In addition to a 522-day sentence, Isamar Sanchez also will serve a two-year probationary term after her release, the Cumberland County Prosecutor's Office announced Friday.

Superior Court Judge Gary D. Wodlinger sentenced the teen based on her Oct. 22 plea to a charge of second-degree aggravated manslaughter.

Sanchez admitted she gave birth in the restroom in May 2008 and "did not take any action to care for the newborn or to determine it was breathing," Prosecutor Ronald J. Casella said.

"She further admitted that she did not seek any appropriate assistance from others for the infant after it was born," Casella stated in a news release.

The prosecutor declined further comment.

http://www.thedailyjournal.com/artic...WS01/910240329