Warning: This article contains discussion of child death which some readers may find distressing.
An American teenager has been accused of throwing her newborn out of a hotel window while traveling with a group of young adults, prompting police to consider the possibility the incident may be a case of pregnancy denial.
The 18-year-old tourist has not been named, but police have launched an investigation into the alleged incident that occurred on Monday (February 24).
The American is said to have thrown the newborn out of a second story window of a Paris hotel, sadly resulting in the child’s death.
Emergency services made attempts to save the life of the baby, but police confirmed that the infant could not be revived. The young mother was then taken into custody when police arrived at the Ibis budget hotel, according to the prosecutor’s office.
Authorities are now considering that the incident may have been a case of ‘denial of pregnancy’.
Police have launched an investigation into the homicide of the infant (Elsa Biyick/Hans Lucas/AFP/Getty Images/File)
According to a report by News Medical Life Sciences, pregnancy denial is, simply, when a woman denies she is pregnant.
Dr Liji Thomas explained in the report: “At 20 weeks of pregnancy, it is found in 1 of 475 women, but the incidence declines to 1 in 2,500 at delivery.
“Pregnancy denial may occur in both psychotic and non-psychotic forms. Furthermore, women with pregnancy denial may show different categories of the condition, such as frank denial, suspicion of pregnancy without conscious awareness, and complete knowledge of the fact that she is pregnant with denial and concealment of the condition.
“Women with psychotic denial of pregnancy have long-term mental disorders such as schizophrenia, which continues throughout pregnancy.”
Authorities working on the case in Paris have said that an investigation has been launched and will be treated as a homicide of a minor under the age of 15.
Police have taken the 18-year-old into custody and are considering it may have been a case of pregnancy denial (Hans Lucas/AFP via Getty Images)
Research is still needed to determine the causes of pregnancy denial as the condition isn’t completely understood in the scientific community.
Some ideas suggest the conditions stems from a failure to adjust to the conditions of pregnancy. The News Medical Life Sciences report states that these include the need to adapt to changing physical needs and demands, changing shape, preparing for birth and baby care, and developing early bonding to the fetus.
Dr Thomas added: “All of this may result in overwhelming fears and doubts as to one’s own capacity to successfully carry and look after a baby, and in most severe cases, cause the patient to deny that she is pregnant.”
Some previous studies have suggested those with a higher risk of pregnancy denial are of younger age, are in their first pregnancy, have low degree of social support, and/or have a history of substance abuse or psychiatric disorder.
If you’ve been affected by any of these issues or want to speak to someone in confidence regarding the welfare of a child, the Childhelp USA National Child Abuse Hotline (1-800-4-A-CHILD (1-800-422-4453) operates 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and receives calls from throughout the United States, Canada, US Virgin Islands, Guam and Puerto Rico.
A new mom has been charged ‘almost a million dollars’ for having a baby that was taken into the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU).
Janice Hernandez gave birth to baby Aliana at the end of October, but her daughter was diagnosed with Prader-Willi syndrome (PWS) – a rare condition affects one in 20,000 newborns, with symptoms including weak muscle tone and a difficulty feeding.
Janice Hernandez explained how she was hit with a hospital bill totalling more than $700,000 after her baby was treated in NICU for just seven weeks (Instagram/Janicehearts)
It meant that the infant, who was born via an emergency C-section, was taken into NICU where she remained for seven weeks before being discharged.
The 25-year-old mom has shared her disgust with followers on her TikTok account, as she tried to fathom how she was charged almost $750,000.
“I just the bill for my daughter’s NICU stay, do you guys want to know how much it is? Do you want to converse, have a conversation about the price? $738,360 freaking dollars. Almost a million dollars,” stressed Hernandez, of Leno – a city to the northwest of Nevada just a two-hour drive from California’s capital Sacramento.
Baby Aliana was born at the end of October (Instagram/janicehearts)
“Then I decided to take a look through the itemised bill because they sent every single little thing that they charged for and I swear there’s things that they didn’t do and I swear there’s things that they’re overcharging for.
“For example, I noticed on the bill that there’s a little tiny bit of Aquaphor that they gave me that I actually still have – $25 for a tiny tube of Aquaphor that I thought the nurse was just giving me to be cute and give it for free. No ma’am!”
Before adding: “They made sure to charge for every little tiny thing, damn! Like that’s crazy.”
The TikTok video has since gone viral online and has been streamed a viewed more than three million times – with those overseas flabbergasted at the shocking price it cost Americans to have a baby if things don’t run smoothly.
In a follow-up video, Hernandez, who moved to Nevada from Brooklyn, New York, added: “Imagine if I didn’t have insurance. I’d have to pay all of this.
“Here in America, just to breathe costs money and so of course when you step foot into a hospital, they start charging you automatically.
“I just wish that America would get its healthcare system together.”
Fortunately, Hernandez was insured, so she didn’t have to pay all $738,360, but she would have still been left with a hefty bill.
Warning: This article contains content which some readers may find distressing.
A newborn baby boy was discovered in the bottom of a trash compactor by garbage collectors, police have said.
The horrific discovery happened as the sanitation collectors were servicing in a residential neighborhood, the 13200 block of Fountain Crest Drive in Harris County, Texas.
According to witness Allen Hamilton, the workers were seen jumping around ‘hysterical’ and clearly displayed that something was wrong, as per The Mirror.
Baby boy found in back of a trash compactor
(KPRC 2 Click2Houston)
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He said: “When I’m washing dishes, I have seen the trash guy on the phone jumping up and down, like hysterical. Like he just saw something.”
Harris County officials held a press conference following the discovery and said they had launched an investigation to find out the identity of who had put the baby in the trash bin.
According to police, the baby’s age is estimated to be between a few days to a few weeks old, as per The State.
They also believe that the infant may have come from a northwest Houston neighborhood near where the body was discovered.
Local Sergeant Sydney Miller said at the press conference that authorities were trying to establish a timeline to figure out when the trash was compacted and how and when the baby would have ended up in the vehicle.
Garbage collectors made a terrible discovery while working.(KPRC 2+)
He also said he didn’t believe that this incident was the result of a miscarriage, Click2Houston reports.
The horrible discovery has since sent shockwaves through the neighborhood.
Expectant mother, Germany Scott, told the outlet that there were ‘multiple options you can do if you don’t want a baby’.
“There is adoption, you can take it to a fire station, you can do whatever.” she said. “But an innocent baby doesn’t deserve to be in a trash can at all.”
Hamilton also added: “We just immediately started crying because, you know, she [Scott] about to be due in a couple weeks.”
Another resident, Cheryl Boen, said: “Oh, this is insane. This is crazy.
“I never thought anything like this would happen in my neighborhood.
Sergeant Sydney Miller said authorities had launched an investigation to figure out what happened. (KPRC 2+)
“Just tragic that it’s, you know, people can’t, you know, can’t find another way to deal with having a baby and throwing it in the garbage.
“I mean, that’s just sick.”
Miller explained that investigators have been asking neighbors whether they have noticed anyone who may have been pregnant in the last few days or weeks.
According to deputies, an autopsy to determine the baby’s exact age and cause of death is scheduled to take place today (August 15).
No arrests have been made just yet, Click2Houston also reports.
A widowed mum-of-three accused of murdering her husband is now facing an additional attempted murder charge after prosectors claim she tried to poison him weeks earlier.
Kouri Richins, from Summit County, Utah, has been charged with murder for the death of her husband Eric Richins. She was arrested in May last year.
After her husband’s death on March 4 2022, Kouri wrote a book to help children deal with grief and sorrow of losing a father.
Kouri Richins weeps as texts read in court
Credit: Court TV
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The self-published book was titled Are You With Me? about an angel wing-clad deceased father watching over his sons.
Prosecutors now claim in new court documents that Kouri tried to poison her husband weeks before he died.
The documents, that were filed on March 25, allege that a sandwich she got for Eric on Valentine’s day had been poisoned.
That same week she had purchased the sandwich according to witnesses and also bought several dozen fentanyl pills.
Walker Mortuary.
After eating the sandwich, prosecutors said Eric called two friends who have said they remember him saying ‘I think my wife tried to kill me’.
The documents stated that before calling his two friends, Eric had rushed to inject himself with his son’s EpiPen and consumed many Benadryl pills to counteract his reaction to the drugs in the sandwich.
The latest court documents claim that Kouri had asked her housekeeper for the drugs she used to allegedly poison the sandwich. After this failed, she is accused of telling the housekeeper she needed stronger drugs and asking her to procure them.
In response to the new charges, Kouri’s attorney Skye Lazaro told ABC News she ‘continued to maintain her innocence’ and ‘there is nothing in the document that affects Kouri’s approach to defending whatever charges the State levies against her’.
ABC 4
The drugs that were used to kill Eric proved to be significantly stronger as the Moscow Mule drink he had was laced with five-times the lethal dose of fentanyl.
When Eric died, Kouri called the police in the middle of the night to report that her husband was ‘cold to the touch’ after attending to her child in another room.
Kouri claimed that when she returned from dealing with her child’s ‘night terror’ she found her husband unresponsive and deputies found Eric at the foot of the bed.
Prior to his death in 2022, Eric had changed his will to make his sister the sole beneficiary of his life insurance policy. In addition to this, according to his family, he was also considering divorce from Kouri.
Eric’s family has insisted that Kouri is the one responsible for his sudden death.
Not to cause alarm, but scientists say an asteroid the size of the Statue of Liberty could be hurtling towards Earth in just seven years’ time.
NASA clocked a giant rock, now called 2024 YR4, in December last year which has since shot up the charts on the impact risk to our home planet.
That’s because it’s not just any old rock, but a mega ‘city killer’ asteroid the size of the New York monument, London’s Big Ben or Cinderella’s Castle in Walt Disney World Florida.
Imagine the Statue of Liberty hurtling towards Earth from tens of thousands of miles away (Getty Images)
Scientists predict there’s a one-in-32 chance it could smash into Earth in 2032, and while space boffins initially stated it’s more unlikely than likely it will hit us, they are now warning it poses a greater risk of impact than they initially thought.
They are erring on the side of caution by planning potential ways to stop it, but some such as Dr Robin George Andrews say efforts to protect us could turn disastrously wrong.
Several countries have been named as being at risk as astronomers believe it could explode when it enters our atmosphere and create a path of destruction to the tune of eight million tons of TNT, damaging everything within a 30-mile radius.
A recent picture of the asteroid (Catalina Sky Survey/ LPL/Dr. Wierzchos/ Bryce Bolin/Twitter/@estelsiplanetes)
Nine countries that are at risk of taking the brunt of the impact are: India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Ethiopia, Sudan, Nigeria, Venezuela, Colombia, and Ecuador.
And if it hits home, it could cause an explosion equivalent to 500 atomic bombs, putting around 110 million lives at risk across eight of the world’s most-population cities.
This includes Bogotá, Abidjan, Lagos, Khartoum, Mumbai, Kolkata and Dhaka.
The warnings come as the odds of the asteroid striking us was initially set at 2.6 percent but has since climbed to 3.1 percent, the highest risk level of any large asteroid in history, as of today (February 19).
The mission to deflect the asteroid could be risky (Getty Images)
To compare, 99942 Apophis, which had a far ominous nickname of the ‘God of Chaos’, was given a 2.7 percent chance of careering into Earth by 2029, before it was ruled out as a threat.
Alongside predicting a possible warpath for the asteroid, astronomers have also been investigating where it could land.
David Rankin, an engineer with NASA’s Catalina Sky Survey Project, mapped out a ‘risk corridor’, predicting it to collide anywhere around northern South America, across the Pacific Ocean, southern Asia, the Arabian Sea, and Africa.
Dr Andrews, who wrote the book, How to Kill an Asteroid: The Real Science of Planetary Defense, is warning against knocking the asteroid from its path.
The space rock could be catastrophic for humanity (Getty Images)
“Nobody wants to accidentally ‘disrupt’ an asteroid, because those components can still head for Earth,” he said. “As I often say, it’s like turning a cannonball into a shotgun spray.”
“But we aren’t going to see it again until another Earth flyby in 2028. So much could go wrong if we try and hit it with something like DART [Double Asteroid Redirection Test – which was the first-ever mission dedicated to investigating and demonstrating one method of asteroid deflection by changing an asteroid’s motion in space through kinetic impact].
“It may be smaller, or larger. If it’s too big, we may not be able to deflect it with one spacecraft. We’d need several to hit it perfectly, all without catastrophically breaking it.”
Well, at least until then we can sleep assured that the space rock is orbiting Earth at a comfortable distance of tens of thousands of miles away… For now.
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