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Thursday, July 1, 2010 | 10:40 p.m.
Sarah White
Sun archives
The case of an 18-year-old Henderson woman accused of the attempted murder of her newborn was bound over to District Court Thursday after the girl’s mother testified at the preliminary hearing that she saw the infant inside a plastic bag.
The teen, Sarah White, appeared before Pro Tem Judge Eugene Martin in Henderson Justice Court on charges of attempted murder and child abuse and neglect.
Chief Deputy District Attorney Vicki Monroe asked that the child abuse and neglect charge be amended to include substantial bodily harm. Martin amended the criminal complaint and reset White’s bail at $12,000.
White’s mother testified at the hearing that she didn’t know her daughter was pregnant but had suspicions because of weight gain. She said she left their house in the 200 block of Camino Vista Street in Henderson on April 3 to pick up some medicine for White and returned to find her in the upstairs bathroom with a newborn.
Upon entering the bathroom, she said, she saw a lot of blood on the floor. She said she pulled back the shower curtain and found her daughter in the bathtub on her hands and knees.
She said she then saw the baby inside a plastic bag. The infant looked purple and didn’t appear healthy, she said.
White’s father, a trained paramedic, also testified at the hearing and said he performed CPR on the infant after his wife called 911. He said the baby responded after two compressions and opened her eyes.
He said he did not assess whether the baby was breathing or had a heartbeat before he began CPR.
The baby was taken to St. Rose Sienna Hospital in stable but serious condition, police said.
White also was taken to the hospital, where she was interviewed by Henderson Police.
Detective Chad Mitchell testified on Thursday that White told him she never placed the baby inside the bag. Instead, she said, she used the bag to swaddle the baby like a blanket, he testified.
White’s attorney, Jin Kim, said Monroe failed to prove that evidence pointed to attempted murder.
She said White is a scared girl who convinced herself she wasn’t pregnant. During an interview with detectives, White said she didn’t think she was pregnant because a pregnancy test she had taken in August 2009 came back negative, police said.
Mitchell testified that White said she realized she was pregnant in March but didn’t know what to do with the baby.
“She said she didn’t want to be the only 18-year-old girl with a baby,” he testified.
Martin scheduled White’s arraignment in District Court at 10:30 a.m. on July 19. He said White, who was being held at the Henderson Detention Center, would be placed on house arrest if she posts bail.
At one point, White’s attorneys asked that a Sun reporter not be allowed to attend the hearing and Martin ordered that she leave the courtroom. The judge later allowed her back in, but barred her from taking notes.
Makes me wonder why, if the mother suspected her teenage daughter was pregnant, did she do nothing to help the girl, inform her or just plain parent her. No wonder our country is in the state it is in. Parents are completely clueless and absent from their children's lives.
This story should be used by all parents on "what not to do". I agree-completely clueless parents. More concerned with their status than their kids. How afraid was she to talk to her parents because of the environment that was created. Her dad is a paramedic and knows about the safe haven laws. Deniel, cover-up, and anything else you want to throw in there. We all need to have that understanding with our kids that they can come to us with everything-even stuff we don't want to hear about and we will work through the problem together. At no time do I want my daughter to get pregnant, but we would work through it together if she did. Sex without consequences is all over our culture. It is up to the parents to educate our kids that there is good and bad consequences with every decision. This is very sad and the consequences will be severe and life long.
I was 17 years old and had a baby and am glad I did. Now I have wonderful grandchildren. The oldest is planning to be a college professor. You never know how things are going to work out. I feel sorry for this girl.
To Ripit16 & Renee,
I know this family very well and can tell you with the upmost certainty that her parents are wonderful parents! They are a very Loving family that raised their kids in a wonderful home and a very strong Christian environment! They are one of the nicest most loving families that I've had the pleasure of knowing over the last few years! Their kids are all close to them and they have never neglected them or been absent from their lives! This and their strong religious upbringing may have played a role in Sarah's mind as to why she was scared to tell her parents out of embarrassment and shame from that being frowned upon within christianity, But most certainly not because she was afraid of her parents. Sarah made a very poor decision that will live with her the rest of her life, but I assure you her parents are still there and loving her as much as they ever have before. Though I can never condone her actions, I can say that she was not a bad kid, she just made a very very bad decision!
Please remember that not everything in life is to be blamed on parents or a poor upbringing.. I'm sure if you have kids, they have or will do something bad in their life that has absolutely nothing to do with you or the way you raised them. Please think about this before condemning the White family. The only people that can speak to this are the people who know them! Everything you guys are writing is purely your own idea of what this family must be like!
To canman
Ask yourself this! If the family did not also attempt to cover this up! Why did it not come out in April. This has been a long investigation to uncover the facts.
I too have had some association with this family in the past and I agree with almost everything you say about them, but the dad does not and will not listen to others. This is my personal experience with their father. He wants to do it his way and only his way. Black and white. But I am sorry there is a lot of grey in the world. If such a matter of teen pregnancy would have been delta with compassion rather than criticism, you can't tell me that this would have been handled the same way, they would have word through then situation and I believe come up with a good solution. But remember the quote of why lost men in a forest die-pride! I am sure knowing their back ground they would not have had to go far for help!
I too believe that she is not a bad kid, but also believe that door them to the parents was far to hard to pass through because of the black and white views!
For some reason or another, she thought she was going to disappoint her parents, be the only teenager with a baby, didn't want the baby or just plain panicked. Either way, she needs some help. She needs to know about unprotected sex and where she can drop off a baby unharmed. By the way, where is the baby daddy in all this chaos?
To greenab65
BAM! Great point! No where to be found I'm sure!
Ripit,
First of all, The family did not try to cover this up in anyway! The investigation started taking place when she went to the hospital in April, but the news did not get word of it until she was arrested in June. The family has been very cooperative with authorities and have made it clear to the rest of the family that they are not to lie if asked questions even if it goes against what sarah says. They did not go shouting this out to everyone in April because they were trying to protect the family for as long as possible as I'm sure you would too! If the public doesn't know about something like this, You sure aren't going to go out and tell them!
I'm glad that we can at least agree on most of what I said about the family, because they truly are great people! I disagree with what you are saying about her father, but as you said.. its personal experiences so i'm not going to argue that you are wrong because I've had a different personal experience with him. I have known him to be a wonderful father and a man that would do anything for his girls! As any parent would do, I'm sure he and his wife would probably make it very clear that what she did was wrong if she were to have come out up front... but I also know that they would both embrace her with open and loving arms and make sure that she always knew that she was loved even through the times where they might seem upset or angry with her decision. I'm sure there would have been much compassion had she given her parents the opportunity, but you cannot rightfully say how it would have been dealt with because she never gave them that chance to deal with it.
Lastly, you mentioned at the end the doorway to the parents being too hard to pass through. whether or not this was the case, that is not always the parents fault. I know with my parents, they have always made it very clear that I could come to them with anything and they would accept it and try to work through it.. but I myself am not the type to be able to do that. I cant just go to my parents with my problems be them big or small because of my own personality.. that is most certainly not my parents fault.. and you can't say with any certainty that its her parents fault that she could not go to them with this. She is a very young and scared girl who didn't know what to do and unfortunately she chose the wrong path.
And Geenab65.. I agree with you, there are many reasons she could have made the choice she made.. but she's the only one that could tell us why and unfortunately she didn't explore other options she had. And I have no Idea about the baby's father.
Camman
Your character is strong and the Whites are very lucky to have a friend like you! I truly mean it. In this day it is rare to see someone step up and defend a friend with the passion that you have.
May we all have one friend in our lives that would do the same! It is one thing to say it but actions speak for themselves!
With that and my limited interaction with this family I will close with that I am sorry that this young lady made the decision she did. It will haunt her and the family for A lifetime! May the baby find a strong family to be a part of!
Ripit,
Thank you for your kind words! I just am just trying to do whatever little bit I can to try to keep the Whites good name out of a very negative light! I love that family as part of my own and it hurts me to know they are having to deal with all this. I truly hope they are able to work past this and find peace again in the near future. By the way, I believe the baby is happy healthy and has been adopted to what I would hope is a family as great as she would have had with the whites! I wish you all the best.
Camman
Camman475; The Whites are blessed to have such a loyal friend to speak up for them during this time of tragedy.Thank you Camman... Im not gonna get my life history involved in this comment,but i have severe depression..when i read what all had happened, i felt i needed to reply to this and maybe someone would take notice that she may be "sick".A person that suffers with this terrible illness may have these symtoms,"cant make good choices or decissions","always scared someone is gonna be mad at them","embarressed,ashamed,anxious,panic,you LIE, try your best to cover up things, make yourself believe what your hiding will dissapear!but most of all,the answer you get when you ask this person "WHY?" the answer is "I DONT KNOW!" that is the honest truth because they dont know,not a clue ,just FEAR in their mind. I cant say why or how i feel this, sarah could very possibly suffer with depression.I have alot of respect for the whites, even though i dont know them personally,may GOD bless and keep them strong through this. please let her know she is in my prayers, and try to stay strong and just try her best to find some peace in her life...and most of all, "GOD LOVES HER"