A 19-year-old in Glen Burnie, Maryland, has been charged with attempted first- and second-degree murder in connection with the abandonment of her newborn baby.
According to Anne Arundel County police, officers were called to the 600 block of Greenway Road in Glen Burnie on July 14 after residents reported the sound of a crying baby coming from a wooded area. They found the infant and took her to paramedics.
The infant is healthy and doing well, according to police.
Police said an investigation conducted over the next two weeks led them to charge Olivia Dee Rose Thompson, 19, on Friday. Along with attempted murder, she faces charges of first- and second-degree assault, first- and second-degree neglect of a minor, reckless endangerment and desertion of a minor.
Thompson was taken into custody at her home in Glen Burnie without incident.
Police called the case “a tragic incident which could have been avoided.”
“The Anne Arundel County Police wants to stress to all that in Maryland, no one ever has to abandon a newborn baby,” police said in a statement. “Under the Safe Haven law, a distressed parent who is unable or unwilling to care for their infant can safely give up custody of their baby, no questions asked.”
The Safe Haven law allows a parent to safely leave a baby with a responsible adult at a designated location. A person who invokes Safe Haven is immune from civil liability or criminal prosecution so long as the child is unharmed, police said.
