Charges Dropped Against Woman Who Left Her Premature Baby in the Toilet
Charges have been dropped against a North Carolina woman who left her premature 31-week-old baby in a toilet.
The Durham County District Attorney’s Office has dropped all charges against a Durham woman and the father of her child after first responders found their prematurely born baby in a toilet. She had taken the abortion pill well past the time period when it’s normally used.
Syesiha Johnson, 18, and Elijah Speight, 19, both of Durham, had been charged after the July 29 incident. Johnson faced charges of assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill, negligent child abuse inflicting serious bodily injury, and assault inflicting serious bodily injury on an unborn child. Speight was charged with negligent child abuse inflicting serious bodily injury.
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Court documents did not explain pro-abortion District Attorney Satana Deberry’s decision not to prosecute, though they referenced a memorandum that was not available.
According to warrants, Johnson learned she was about 20 weeks pregnant in June and ordered mifepristone abortion pills from Virginia. In North Carolina, the drug is legal with a prescription only for abortions up to 12 weeks of pregnancy.
Durham police officers and firefighters found a child born prematurely in a toilet at the home. The baby, reported to have been at approximately 31 weeks gestation, required CPR before being transported to a hospital.
Deberry had previously said of the case, “I’ve been on the record, over and over again, saying that I believe a woman has the right to choose and has the right to make decisions about her own body. And we will review the evidence in this case in that light.”
The NC Values Coalition called the decision a tragic failure of accountability and a troubling abdication of the justice system’s duty to pursue justice.
“This is a deeply troubling development. A baby was born prematurely after abortion drugs were allegedly illegally used during the third trimester, and now, with these charges dropped, justice cannot be served for this vulnerable child,” said Tami Fitzgerald, executive director of the NC Values Coalition. “Every human life has inherent dignity and worth, and we have a moral responsibility to protect the smallest and most vulnerable among us.”
The status of the baby’s health is unknown at this time.
