The teenage mother accused of throwing her newborn baby out of her second floor apartment window last Friday made her first court appearance Tuesday afternoon.
Sixteen-year-old Antonia Lopez faces an adult charge of felony child abuse resulting in death for the horrifying incident at the Kellum Apartments north of Creighton.
On Tuesday, the defense asked that Lopez be released from the Douglas County Youth Center and put on a 24/7 electronic monitoring system. The prosecution argued that this is far from fair, because of the severity of the crime. Judge Craig McDermott set Lopez’s bond at $500,000.
Prosecutors say in 2015 Lopez was reported missing nine times by family. It is unclear whether or not Lopez’s mom knew she was pregnant. The Nebraska Children’s Home Society says many times teens are too scared to tell their parents they’re expecting.
“Regardless of what societal views are, if there are different family expectations then there can be a lot of fear that comes with an unplanned pregnancy,” said Kim Schenkelberg.
Kim Schenkelbery with Nebraska Children’s Home Society says she wants young girls to know even if they fear telling their parents they're pregnant, there are numerous agencies around town who are more than willing to help, confidentially and cost free.
“I can only imagine the frightening place that that woman was in to make such a drastuc choice. Had she known that there were services out there that would have been unbiased and provided her with the support to walk her through making a choice, then there would have been a better outcome,” said Schenkelberg.
Family of the baby’s father says they are grieving and still trying to grasp what happened. They say no matter what, this baby girl deserves a proper burial. They have started a GoFundMe page. To donate to the funeral costs head here https://www.gofundme.com/2se57f8?r=51971