When Tiona Rodriguez was caught shoplifting at a Victoria’s Secret store in New York, security guards thought they had a regular case of teenage shop theft on their hands.
But when they searched the young woman’s bag, they made a sickening discovery: Ms Rodriguez, then 17, was carrying the body of a newborn baby.
Now Ms Rodriguez has been charged with second degree murder over the horrifying 2013 incident, Metro reports.
Fox8 News reports Ms Rodriguez gave birth in secret to the little boy on October 16 2013, in the bath at a friend’s home. According to prosecutors, she ripped the 3.6-kilogram boy’s umbilical cord “with her bare hands”.
Her lawyer Earl Ward claimed the baby was stillborn, and that the confused young teenager didn’t know what to do with its body, the Daily News reports.
But a medical examiner has ruled the baby died from asphyxiation, according to WABC. Prosecutors argue the teenager concealed her pregnancy, callously plotted weeks before the birth to kill the baby, then killed her baby when he was just minutes old.
According to prosecutors, Ms Rodriguez stowed his lifeless body in her bag. Then the next day, they allege, she stopped by Victoria’s Secret to shoplift a USD45 pair of pants, where she was caught with the boy’s foul-smelling body.
Adding to the case’s intrigue is that fact that Ms Rodriguez was well experienced in concealing her pregnancies, having previously hidden two.
The Brooklyn-raised teenager gave birth for the first time at 14 in 2011, after concealing her growing baby bump from her family, New York Times reports. Her mother now cares for that four-year-old boy.
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This whole story is just so tragic and sad
Sickening. I have no sympathy. First pregnancy at 14 does not appear to have taught this one anything. Second pregnancy at 15 and then third at 17? The sexualisation of girls at increasingly younger ages combined with the proliferation of porn and modern rap which objectifies women in aggressive ways, leads young girls to feel as if they are supposed to act like porn stars for their boyfriends. There is also the increasing sense of entitlement by teenagers who demand the rights and "perks" of being adults, without the maturity and sense of responsibility to deal with those perks.
Obviously, hiding pregnancies, giving birth and smothering babies is much easier than using reliable contraception or possibly having an early abortion, or possibly giving the baby up for adoption.
I don't believe porn and/or modern rap are the issue here. I've seen porn and listen to rap and haven't got knocked up or killed a baby. There is nothing to suggest she was influenced by either of those things. It's more likey to do with lack of education. Many girls are sexually active at the age of 14, 15 and up. Schools and parents have a responsibility to educate girls and boys at that age about contraception and pregnancy. Also, the article states she knew she would be in trouble if her family found out about the pregnancy....that make me think the reason she concealed it was because she was so afraid of what would happen to her. Where's the support? The best 'discipline' would have been to teach her how to care for a child in a supportive but structured and somewhat strict environment. In saying all of this, you would have to be pretty messed up to kill a baby. But my point is that I don't think porn and rap music are the root of this issue.
I did not say that porn and rap are the cause. I did not say that these things are evil in themselves or that everybody is dumb and just consuming these products will turn you into a baby killer. I agree that education helps reduce the incidence of teenage pregnancy. Of course. I was talking about cultural influences and a range of cultural influences at that which affect behaviour and choices in the absence of good education and a sense of self determination. I could have listed more like family history and role models, peer pressure, the list goes on...for all we know, she is being impregnated repeatedly by a family member. We just don't know what her situation is. We can only deduce that she does not feel empowered enough to insist on contraception or protection during sexual activity - even after 2 pregnancies.
What on earth? Perhaps in certain circumstances porn can be problematic, but I hardly think it makes a woman conceal a pregnancy and then murder her baby! Good lord, the leaps in logic required to make this story all about porn and 'modern rap'!
We know that she has a boyfriend, who knew about the pregnancy, and who knew the baby was dead, and who discussed hiding the body. We can be fairly sure the sex between them was consensual. She was the one who murdered the baby, and from al accounts, was a willing participant in having sex/not using contraception. She is hardly a victim. I mean do we assume the boyfriend wasn't 'empowered' enough to use contraception? Some people are just sexually irresponsible, some people are just bad people - they aren't all damaged innocents or people who aren't empowered.