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August 10, 2007

Mom Who Left Baby In Alley Gets 5 Years

TAMPA - Shortly before handing down a sentence Thursday, Circuit Judge Manuel Lopez balked.

A day earlier, he approved a plea deal drawn up by the prosecutor and defense attorney that would put Mary Louise Doe in prison for five years. On Thursday, however, Lopez realized the sentencing guidelines called for 14 1/2 years behind bars. The maximum sentence is 30 years.

Doe, 42, was pleading guilty to aggravated manslaughter of a child. She admitted giving birth in a dirt alleyway after consuming large amounts of alcohol and crack cocaine. She left her crying child to die.

After Assistant State Attorney Rita Peters described the extenuating circumstances in Doe's case, Lopez relented and agreed to the five-year sentence.

Doe, Peters said, has mental health issues beyond her alcohol and drug abuse. She was treated for psychosis at a private hospital a few months before her arrest.

When police caught up with Doe on May 9, 2006, she was incoherent, Peters said.

Investigators didn't immediately tell Doe that they had found the newborn. It was two days after the birth and decomposition had begun. The medical examiner determined that Doe's baby was a girl. He could not determine a cause of death.

Despite the fog of drugs, Doe cooperated with the officers. She explained that she had been in a fight with another woman, that the other woman punched her and kicked her, that soon afterward she felt her baby coming from her body, that she heard the baby crying as she walked out of the dirt alleyway, that she left the baby behind.

'Throughout the interview,' Peters said, 'she kept asking, 'Where's my baby? Where's my baby?''

In December, about seven months after Doe's arrest, Lopez had determined she was not competent for trial. At Florida State Hospital, while undergoing treatment, Doe repeatedly expressed extreme remorse to her doctors, Peters said.

On Thursday, with Doe now mentally stable, Lopez said she must complete 10 years of probation after her five years in prison. She must complete a drug and alcohol evaluation and follow any treatment advised. She also must stay on any medications prescribed by doctors.

After the hearing, Assistant State Attorney Pam Bondi said mothers who feel they cannot take care of their children have options in Florida. The Florida Safe Haven Law, enacted in 2000, allows unharmed children to be left without question at police stations, firehouses and emergency rooms.

After Doe's baby was discovered dead, Peters said, a Georgia woman called police to say that she was a family friend and had made an agreement to adopt the girl. Doe's daughter said Thursday that the family was divided on the issue. Kawandria 'Peaches' Doe, 26, said she had expected to take care of the newborn.

Days before Mary Doe's arrest, Kawandria Doe was one of the first to realize that something terrible had happened. She helped police locate her mother and the deceased infant. While on probation, Doe will live with Kawandria Doe.

Kawandria Doe said her mother calls often. Over several conversations, she said, she could feel her mother getting better.

Asked if her mother felt remorse, Kawandria Doe shook her head.

'To be honest,' she said, 'me and her never discussed it. I would like to, but I never know when to ask.'

Reporter Thomas W. Krause can be reached at (813)259-7698 or tkrause@tampatrib.com.

Posted by admin at August 10, 2007 10:36 AM