The estranged daughter of MLB Hall of Famer Dennis Eckersley allegedly likened abandoning her newborn baby in freezing weather to a plane crash — saying she was trying to save lots of herself first.
“What do they let you know when a plane goes down? Save yourself first,” Alexandra Eckersley told officers, based on a police affidavit cited by the Boston Herald.
She gave the bizarre answer when asked why she had left her unclothed baby boy in a tent in 18-degree weather as she waited for an ambulance.
Eckersley, 26, who stays hospitalized, faces charges of felony reckless conduct, endangering the welfare of a baby, second-degree assault with extreme indifference and falsifying physical evidence.
She told investigators she didn’t know she was pregnant and admitted to using cocaine and marijuana in the times before giving birth in Latest Hampshire woods about 1 a.m. Monday.
Manchester police found the uncovered baby, who was struggling to breathe, near the Piscataquog River, officials said.
It also emerged that Eckersley and her boyfriend — identified in court papers as 45-year-old George Theberge — also decided to show off a propane heater within the tent as they waited for medical personnel, the outlet reported, citing the police affidavit.
The lady was described as likely on drugs, unsteady on her feet and thrashing as police tried to get her to say where the infant was after she called 911.
Her public defender, Jordan Strand, said in Latest Hampshire’s Hillsborough County Superior Court that she did all the things she could while affected by blood loss and possible hypothermia after giving birth.
“She did what she needed to do to get help. Childbirth is incredibly dangerous even under the very best of circumstances,” Strand said.
EMS performed emergency respiration on the infant, who was initially taken to Catholic Medical Center after which transferred to Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center, where he stays intubated, Assistant County Attorney Carl Olson said.
The newborn reportedly weighed 4.4 kilos after being born about three months early.
Eckersley apparently “had no idea where the kid could also be” when police arrived and helped within the search, based on the affidavit filed in court on Tuesday.
Officers called within the Latest Hampshire State Police cadaver dogs, believing the kid might need been dead, based on the document.
The realm where the newborn was found — in a small tent inside a much bigger one — had a considerable amount of blood and a number of other blankets, the affidavit reportedly states.
Eckersley told police that the infant cried for lower than a minute after birth, and Theberge believed the infant didn’t have a pulse.
She told cops she was frightened about losing her tent, the news outlet reported.
“Eckersley was stating that it is rather hard to survive in the event that they had lost their tent due to cold temperatures through the winter in Manchester,” the affidavit says.
Eckersley also said she and her boyfriend decided to inform cops that she had given birth at some athletic fields so that they wouldn’t find the tent.
After she pleaded not guilty, Judge Diane Nicolosi set bail at $3,000 money and imposed several conditions, including that Eckersley cannot have any contact together with her son and that she must live at a sober living facility or together with her parent or at one other residence approved by the state or court.
Authorities also said they expect to charge Theberge within the case.
Prosecutors said Eckersley’s mother, Nancy, told them that she and Dennis, her ex-husband, offered their daughter drug treatment for years, but she refused and selected to be homeless.
The estranged daughter of MLB Hall of Famer Dennis Eckersley allegedly likened abandoning her newborn baby in freezing weather to a plane crash — saying she was trying to save lots of herself first.
“What do they let you know when a plane goes down? Save yourself first,” Alexandra Eckersley told officers, based on a police affidavit cited by the Boston Herald.
She gave the bizarre answer when asked why she had left her unclothed baby boy in a tent in 18-degree weather as she waited for an ambulance.
Eckersley, 26, who stays hospitalized, faces charges of felony reckless conduct, endangering the welfare of a baby, second-degree assault with extreme indifference and falsifying physical evidence.
She told investigators she didn’t know she was pregnant and admitted to using cocaine and marijuana in the times before giving birth in Latest Hampshire woods about 1 a.m. Monday.
Manchester police found the uncovered baby, who was struggling to breathe, near the Piscataquog River, officials said.
It also emerged that Eckersley and her boyfriend — identified in court papers as 45-year-old George Theberge — also decided to show off a propane heater within the tent as they waited for medical personnel, the outlet reported, citing the police affidavit.
The lady was described as likely on drugs, unsteady on her feet and thrashing as police tried to get her to say where the infant was after she called 911.
Her public defender, Jordan Strand, said in Latest Hampshire’s Hillsborough County Superior Court that she did all the things she could while affected by blood loss and possible hypothermia after giving birth.
“She did what she needed to do to get help. Childbirth is incredibly dangerous even under the very best of circumstances,” Strand said.
EMS performed emergency respiration on the infant, who was initially taken to Catholic Medical Center after which transferred to Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center, where he stays intubated, Assistant County Attorney Carl Olson said.
The newborn reportedly weighed 4.4 kilos after being born about three months early.
Eckersley apparently “had no idea where the kid could also be” when police arrived and helped within the search, based on the affidavit filed in court on Tuesday.
Officers called within the Latest Hampshire State Police cadaver dogs, believing the kid might need been dead, based on the document.
The realm where the newborn was found — in a small tent inside a much bigger one — had a considerable amount of blood and a number of other blankets, the affidavit reportedly states.
Eckersley told police that the infant cried for lower than a minute after birth, and Theberge believed the infant didn’t have a pulse.
She told cops she was frightened about losing her tent, the news outlet reported.
“Eckersley was stating that it is rather hard to survive in the event that they had lost their tent due to cold temperatures through the winter in Manchester,” the affidavit says.
Eckersley also said she and her boyfriend decided to inform cops that she had given birth at some athletic fields so that they wouldn’t find the tent.
After she pleaded not guilty, Judge Diane Nicolosi set bail at $3,000 money and imposed several conditions, including that Eckersley cannot have any contact together with her son and that she must live at a sober living facility or together with her parent or at one other residence approved by the state or court.
Authorities also said they expect to charge Theberge within the case.
Prosecutors said Eckersley’s mother, Nancy, told them that she and Dennis, her ex-husband, offered their daughter drug treatment for years, but she refused and selected to be homeless.
