Posted on 11/22/2003 10:47:26 PM PST by Diddle E. Squat
HURST - A Texas Wesleyan student accused of trying to kill her newborn boy by discarding him in a trash bin surrendered Friday afternoon at the Hurst police station.
Dana L. Wilson, 24, walked into the station about 4 p.m. accompanied by her mother and her attorney just hours after an arrest warrant was issued.
Wilson is accused in an arrest affidavit of attempted capital murder. The affidavit says she tried to kill her infant on Nov. 14 by dumping him in a trash bin after placing him in a plastic bag and tying it. The bin was scheduled to be emptied that day.
Wilson remained in the Hurst City Jail on Friday evening with bail set at $100,000.
Ward Maedgen of Dallas, her attorney, could not be reached to comment.
The condition of the baby, temporarily named John Doe, was upgraded to good Friday at Cook Children's Medical Center in Fort Worth. Child Protective Services has been granted temporary custody when the baby is released from the hospital.
Wilson told a friend, Robert Estes, that she became pregnant about nine months ago by a boy she met through an Internet dating service, according to the arrest warrant affidavit that was released Friday.
Her mother, Delbra Wilson, was out of town for a week when her daughter was with the boy, the affidavit says.
Dana Wilson told Estes that she had the baby Nov. 14 but wanted nothing to do with the infant, according to the affidavit, which says she placed the boy in a plastic bag and put it in a Dumpster.
The affidavit also says that Wilson told classmate Amy Smith on Nov. 14 that she had given birth that morning at home alone and that no one knew she was pregnant.
A baby was found in the trash bin by a veterinarian and a technician at Metroplex Animal Clinic in the 100 block of East Harwood Road.
"The facts of the case are extremely disturbing," said prosecutor Mitch Poe, chief of the Crimes Against Children Unit of the Tarrant County district attorney's office. "I believe a jury will think so, as well."
Hurst police Sgt. Craig Teague said the arrest warrant was based on witness statements and evidence gathered in Wilson's home in the 400 block of West Louella Drive in Hurst and from her car late Wednesday and early Thursday. He declined to provide details on the evidence.
Investigators took swabs from Wilson's mouth for DNA tests. Results were not available Friday.
Police said they have had no contact with the baby's father.
Teague said an arrest does not mean an end to the investigation.
"Anyone who aided in the delivery and placement of the baby in the Dumpster would face legal exposure," he said.
Teague did not identify any other suspects.
According to a search warrant affidavit, Wilson and her mother, Delbra Wilson, went to North Texas Women's Healthcare Associates in Euless on Tuesday afternoon and told a doctor that Dana Wilson gave birth at home and put the baby up for adoption at Cook Children's Medical Center.
Teague said an investigation showed that a baby was not taken to Cook for adoption.
If convicted of the charge, Wilson faces a maximum sentence of life in prison.
Delbra Wilson once worked as an associate judge in Tarrant County, presiding over hearings concerning paternity and enforcement of child support payments, county officials said.
According to a search warrant affidavit, Wilson and her mother, Delbra Wilson, went to North Texas Women's Healthcare Associates in Euless on Tuesday afternoon and told a doctor that Dana Wilson gave birth at home and put the baby up for adoption at Cook Children's Medical Center.
That would have been Tuesday the 18th, when the story had been all over the news for 4 days.
Delbra Wilson once worked as an associate judge in Tarrant County, presiding over hearings concerning paternity and enforcement of child support payments, county officials said.
No mercy
This case is particularly heinous because she did not just leave the baby in the dumpster, but tied it up into a bag.
Did this 24 year old woman really become pregnant by a BOY? Are they trying to put her in the category of young girl? Or is she a sex predator on the internet, going after boys?
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