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Teresa Rose Smith, 23, entered her plea Friday before Orange County Court Judge Craig Stephen Brown on an indictment charging her with attempted murder, assault, abandonment of a child, reckless endangerment, and endangering the welfare of a child, said the Orange County District Attorney's Office.
Smith was charged after allegedly leaving her newborn baby boy in the toilet of the Budget Inn in the Town of Newburgh and then left in a taxi.
Motel workers who discovered the newborn infant immediately contacted the police. The baby was rushed to the hospital and survived.
During Friday's arraignment, prosecutors argued that moments after having given birth to that child in a toilet bowl in her motel room, Smith abandoned the child, intending for him to die, the DA's Office said.
Smith is being held on $100,000 cash or $300,000 bond at the Orange County Jail.
She is scheduled to appear in court again on Jan. 15, 2019.
“Infants are the most innocent of victims,” said District Attorney David Hoovler. “It is hard to comprehend what could drive any mother to intend to kill her own baby by abandoning the baby in these types of circumstances. I am grateful to the Town of Newburgh Police Department for their actions is saving the child’s life."
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