Woman accused of tossing baby into trash will face trial

Kim Smith

Tuesday, Aug. 28, 2001 | 10:52 a.m.

A Las Vegas woman accused of discarding her newborn daughter in a trash bin will face trial on an attempted murder charge.

After hearing testimony from five witnesses, Justice of the Peace James Bixler said Monday there is sufficient evidence to try Monique Tucker in connection with the Aug. 6 incident.

Tucker will be arraigned by District Judge Jeffrey Sobel Sept. 4. Her bail was set at $50,000.

Authorities believe Tucker gave birth to a healthy baby in her bathroom and placed her inside a plastic bag and shoe box. They allege Tucker, a 28-year-old mother of three other children, then discarded the box inside a trash bin at her Charleston Boulevard apartment complex.

A groundskeeper at the complex found the baby alive, and Tucker was arrested after another resident of the complex, John Napoleon Jr., told police he had seen blood on Tucker that indicated she had given birth within the past day.

Albert Lopresti, the groundskeeper at the Silver Shadow Apartments, testified Monday he initially thought the cries he heard coming from the trash bin were those of a kitten.

When he looked inside the bin, he found the closed shoebox, Lopresti said. Once he lifted the lid and saw the baby, he ran with the baby, shoebox and all, to his supervisor's apartment.

Jennifer Augustine-McKillop, the wife of Lopresti's boss, struggled to keep her composure as she described "peeling" the bloody bag from the baby's head.

Augustine-McKillop described the baby as being "ashen and lethargic" as she wrapped her in a towel and waited for paramedics to arrive.

Metro Police Officer William Eddy said that when he spoke to Tucker about Napoleon's observation of the blood, she claimed to be both three months pregnant and menstruating.

Lisa Teele, an abuse and neglect specialist for Metro, said Tucker also lied to her about being the infant's mother.

Tucker ultimately confessed, but insisted she planned to come back for the baby after a trip to a drug store, Teele said.

Tucker said her husband had threatened to leave her if she had another child, Teele said.

Deputy Public Defender Robert Thompson said Tucker would like to have supervised visits with the child, who is in state custody. Bixler left that decision to Family Court.

Tucker's other children are being cared for by out-of-state relatives.