Woman charged after delivering baby in NH woods, misleading Manchester first responders, police say
By Web staff
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MANCHESTER, New Hampshire (WCVB) — A woman is facing a felony charge after police in New Hampshire said she gave birth to a baby in a wooded area of Manchester and initially lied to first responders about the newborn’s location.
Manchester police said 26-year-old Alexandra Eckersley is facing a count of felony reckless conduct in connection with the incident, which happened shortly after midnight Monday.
According to police, officers responded to the area of the West Side Arena at about 12:40 a.m. after receiving a report of a woman who had delivered a baby in the woods in that area.
Manchester police officers, firefighters and American Medical Response personnel searched an area where the mother of the baby, identified as Eckersley, directed them to look for a tent where she gave birth to a boy. However, first responders were unable to locate the newborn child.
Police said that after nearly an hour of searching in 18-degree temperatures, Eckersley revealed the true location of the baby and led officers to the tent. The officers did find the baby in that tent, naked and alone.
The newborn was treated by emergency medical technicians before being transported to Catholic Medical Center for further treatment. At 3:30 p.m., Manchester police Chief Allen Aldenberg said the baby boy is alive and improving, and that he is currently being treated at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center.
Alexandra Eckersley is the daughter of MLB Hall of Famer and former Red Sox broadcaster Dennis Eckersley.
“There’s no excuse for this,” Aldenberg said. “If you choose to live in the woods and choose to live your life a particular way, and you don’t want accept our outreach that goes every day in this city — and you want to live out there and do that with your life — fine. But you don’t get to do this, what we’re alleging here. You don’t get to do this to a child.”
Eckersley was arrested on an unrelated warrant out of Concord District Court for endangering the welfare of a child and was subsequently charged with felony reckless conduct.
Aldenberg said Eckersley was being treated at a Manchester hospital as of Monday afternoon. Once Eckersley is released from hospital care, she will be arraigned on those charges, according to the police chief.
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