CA - Chelsea Becker, 25; Stillborn Fetus; *Murder Warrant* Hanford; Kings Cty - 4 Nov 2019

[imstilla.grandma]

Officials issued a Kings County arrest warrant for Becker for the charge of murder with the bail amount of $5 million. Becker is known to frequent the Tachi Palace Hotel & Casino in Lemoore, the Hanford area and Dinuba.

Police ask the public if they see Becker to not contact her but instead immediately contact the Hanford Police Department or the law enforcement agency in which she is located.

If anyone knows Becker's whereabouts, please contact the Hanford Police Department Investigations Unit at 559-585-2540.
Hanford Police in search for woman after unborn baby dies with meth from his system


Police say 25-year-old Chelsea Becker has had multiple children removed from her custody because of substance abuse.

According to investigators, Becker admitted she used meth as late as three days prior to giving birth.
Mother wanted for murder after delivering stillborn with toxic levels of meth

 

[imstilla.grandma]

Police put out a warrant for Becker, and she was arrested Tuesday night on a felony charge of first-degree murder and booked into the Kings County Jail in Hanford early Wednesday, records show. Her bail has been set at $5 million.
Becker pleaded not guilty at her arraignment on Wednesday morning, and a phone call to her lawyer, Robert Stover, was not returned. Court records indicate her next hearing is November 19.

"The levels of methamphetamine in this baby's system were such high levels, even for an adult, so we believe that she was using almost the entire time that she was pregnant," Vallin told KGPE.
Becker's cousin, Terra Ordonez, said she is optimistic her cousin will recover.
"I'm excited for her to straighten up and get clean because I know she's smart enough to get out of it," Ordonez told the affiliate. "Hopefully, it's an eye-opener for a lot of women who are struggling. If you're pregnant, scream for help."
A mother is charged with murder after delivering a stillborn baby with meth in its system - CNN

 

[imstilla.grandma]

A central California woman charged with murder after delivering a stillborn baby who tested positive for methamphetamine will be released to a drug treatment center as her lawyers argue that the state’s homicide law does not apply to pregnant women, a position backed by California’s attorney general.

Chelsea Becker, 26, has been in a Kings County jail since her arrest in November 2019, unable to raise $2 million bail. Kings County Superior Court Judge Robert Shane Burns on Tuesday granted her attorneys’ request to release her to an out-of-county residential treatment center pending trial. She has pleaded not guilty.

Prosecutors say the case is about stopping a woman who has repeatedly abused narcotics while pregnant, resulting in two other babies who tested positive for meth at birth.

“Despite Ms. Becker’s lengthy and continual history of using illegal narcotics and failed attempts at recovery, we maintain hope in her recovery and her ability to stop choosing drugs over her children,” said Phil Esbenshade, the top assistant district attorney in Kings County, about her release.

The case has outraged advocates of pregnant women who say overzealous prosecutors are trying to punish a woman who needs treatment, and not prison time, and they hope the charges will soon be thrown out. There is no evidence that drug use results in stillbirths, they say, and allowing the charges would have a chilling effect: preventing women from seeking needed prenatal care.

“We are deeply saddened, horrified that this case has been continuing for 15 months, keeping someone incarcerated because she lost a pregnancy, which thousands of women do every year,” said Lynn Paltrow, executive director of National Advocates for Pregnant Women, which is providing legal support for Becker.

California’s top prosecutor, Xavier Becerra, who is being considered for secretary of health and human services in the Biden administration, sent a friend of the court brief stating that the law was never meant to apply to pregnant women and urging the charges be dropped. The judge in this case has declined to do so.
Bail granted for woman who used meth before stillbirth

 

[borndem]

Hmmmm, I'm very mixed about her being taken out of jail to go into a drug treatment facility. Yes, she has a drug problem, indeed, but after two other newborns of hers tested positive... She had months before this baby was born to seek and get treatment...months.
She can't be treated in jail in some sort of way? I guess a county jail does not have the correct set-up or budget -- most jails would not. Who or what is paying for her upcoming treatment now...

I don't know -- I just don't know. After two strikes, and now a third...
I've got to do more thinking.

 

[Bradley Q.]

California judge drops murder charge in stillbirth delivery

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — A California judge has dismissed a murder case against a woman who delivered a stillbirth after consuming methamphetamine, saying prosecutors failed to provide evidence that she took drugs knowing that it could kill her baby.

Kings County Superior Court Judge Robert Shane Burns delivered his decision in court Thursday, said Dana Sussman, deputy executive director for the National Advocates for Pregnant Women, which is providing legal counsel for the woman, Chelsea Becker.

The dismissal, however, falls short of what Becker’s advocates had wanted from the court: A clear ruling that that California’s homicide law does not apply to pregnant women. California’s former top prosecutor, Xavier Becerra, backed that position.

“We are disappointed that a dismissal on these grounds does not foreclose the possibility that a misguided prosecutor may attempt a similar prosecution in the future,” said Jacqueline Goodman, trial counsel for Becker. “As a result, we are left to play a sort of whack-a-mole, ever vigilant that we find and prevent any similar efforts to charge a woman with murder for the outcome of her pregnancy.”

 

[cvaldez1975]

this case is awful and sad, but im really not for making this mother a cautionary tale.

 

[glamourkitty1922]

I live in California and it seems my state doesn't consider children, born and unborn, to be human beings. 25% of Californian children live in poverty.