Police Find Body of Unborn Baby Killed in Abortion in Christmas Gift Box

From http://lifenews.com/state4645.html

Police Find Body of Unborn Baby Killed in Abortion in Christmas Gift Box

by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor
December 15, 2009

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Mission, TX (LifeNews.com) -- In a bizarre case that is beginning to draw national attention, police in a city in south Texas say they have found the remains of an unborn baby victimized by abortion placed in a Christmas gift box. The incident took place in this city near McAllen, on the Texas side of the Mexican border.

Officials say Ruby Lee Medina and her boyfriend Javier Gonzalez placed the remains of a seven-month-old unborn child neatly in a box and, as some reports indicate, set the box under their Christmas tree.

Medina, 31, and Gonzalez, 37, both of whom reside in Mission, have been charged with abuse of a corpse and tampering with evidence.

Police official told the Associated Press they found the baby's remains last Thursday after getting a tip, San Juan Police Chief Juan Gonzalez said.

A detective investigating the case went to the couple's mobile home and found blood throughout the place.

Gonzalez says Medina reportedly used pills to cause an abortion. The mifepristone abortion drug was made to be used at approximately seven weeks into pregnancy to kill an unborn child, but the second part of the two-drug process, misoprostol, can be used to cause contractions.

It is an anti-ulcer drug that is not meant for pregnancy or abortion purposes.

Gonzalez told AP that Medina called for an ambulance after she began bleeding and told paramedics she did not know the location of the unborn child.

He indicated the couple attempted to flush the body of the baby down the toilet but were unable to do so.

The couple said they eventually had planned to bury the baby's body in their backyard but police found them out first. They voluntarily surrendered to officials.

"Apparently they cleaned up the fetus and they placed it inside a gift box under the Christmas tree," the police chief said.

Medina’s mother, Marina Perez, was surprised by the news and said the couple had already planned to name her grandson Noel.

“I don't understand what happened,” she told the McAllen Monitor newspaper.

Perez confirmed to the Monitor newspaper that Medina used the anti-ulcer drug, which she obtained from friends who reside in Reynosa, Mexico, was used for the self-induced abortion.

She says the drugs caused Medina to go into labor to deliver the baby, whose remains were cremated at an area morgue on Monday.

Medina and Gonzalez (not related to the police chief) appeared in court on Monday and had their bail set at $20,000. AP indicated a phone call to the local jail did not reveal whether they had retained an attorney. They were seen with Mission lawyer Ricardo Salina in court, but Medina said she needed a court-appointed attorney.

Officials waited until Monday to formally charge the couple so Medina could recover at an area hospital.

Medina has four other child, who are reportedly staying with their grandmother, and police told KRGV that they suspect Medina has engaged in a self-abortion in a similar manner as this one once before. They also suspect she was using illegal drugs at the time.

“Information has surfaced to that fact that she might have consumed some type of controlled substance,” Gonzalez said.

The Monitor indicates they could eventually face capital murder charges pending autopsy results. if so, the corpse abuse charge, which could result in fines and a year in prison, could be upped to a charge that could result in the death penalty.

The evidence tampering charge could see the pair receive 20 years in prison.

“The autopsy report will indicate what type of investigation we have and where we take it from there and if there’s any additional charges to file," Gonzalez told the newspaper.


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