Teen pleads ‘true’

Barbara Green
For the Times Record News
Tuesday, January 15, 2008

A 15-year-old Bowie girl was sent to the Texas Youth Commission after pleading “true” to felony injury to a child, connected to the teen putting her newborn child into a trash container.

Jury selection was set to begin Tuesday morning in the trial of a teenage mother who was accused of attempted capital murder of her baby. Just prior to the start, District Attorney Jack McGaughey said a plea was presented. He explained in a juvenile case there is no guilty plea, but the defendant can plead true to an offense.

The plea was part of a deal where the state would not try to send her to prison when she reaches her 18th birthday. In October, the Montague County Grand Jury certified a petition for determinant sentencing, which would have allowed the state — if she had been found guilty and sentenced — to have her transferred from the Texas Youth Commission to state prison at age 18.

On Aug. 24, an ambulance went to a Bowie residence where they found the 15-year-old girl bleeding and she appeared to have recently given birth. Attendants found the baby in a plastic bag in an outside trash buggy.

The baby girl was unharmed. The young mother was treated and released a few days later to juvenile authorities. A juvenile petition was filed alleging the girl committed a delinquent act and violated the penal code for attempted capital murder. A juvenile cannot be accused of a penal code offense.

District Judge Roger Towery conducted the disposition hearing, where McGaughey argued for the teen’s commitment to TYC, while her attorneys argued for probation and counseling. The girl was sentenced to TYC.

Both parents of the teen were present, along with the aunt she had been living with in Bowie for the past eight years. Family and neighbors urged she not be sent to TYC.

McGaughey said under the current rules she can stay at TYC until she reaches age 19; however, TYC also can release her earlier if deemed appropriate and after treatment and counseling. The DA said his position was no probation at all, because the action alone required consequences.

“When you deal with a 15-year-old you want punishment to be tailored to the needs of that person, not to treat them like an adult. We did a lot of evaluation to see if she was a menace or danger to society, but decided this was the best way to deal with it,” explained McGaughey.

The DA said he filed determinant sentencing because there was a time constraint to do so and he wanted to keep the option open.

“At that time we had not gone through the psychological testing to see what her needs were. She didn’t have any deep-seated disorders and was not a danger to the public at large. It seemed to be the way to deal with her individually. We also took into account her background of no prior violence or offenses,” stated the DA.

The 5-month-old baby girl has been placed in foster care under the direction of Child Protective Services.

McGaughey said a separate suit has been filed to terminate parental rights.

http://www.timesrecordnews.com/news/2008/jan/15/teen-pleads-true/

Emphasis added by H4K Editor