The father of a young woman accused of dumping her baby in a Kearns, Utah, trash can says his daughter suffers from a learning disability that prevents her from fully comprehending her actions, The Salt Lake City Tribune reported on Wednesday.
"She doesn't even realize that it's a crime and it's bad," Robert Englert, whose 23-year-old daughter, Alicia Marie Englert, has been in the Salt Lake County jail since Tuesday night, told The Salt Lake City Tribune. "Even when the police were taking her to jail, she thought they were taking her to her room."
Robert Englert recovered his daughter's newborn at about 7 a.m. Tuesday from a resident's trash can. The father was unaware of his daughter's pregnancy and said he has no idea who the father could be.
The child appeared to have had no medical care at all since her hidden home birth sometime between late Sunday night and early Monday morning. Police Sgt. Ken Hansen said the child remained in the intensive infant care unit of Primary Children's Hospital in Salt Lake City.
"She's still critical today, and she likely will remain in that condition for at least the next few days," Hansen told The Salt Lake City Tribune, adding it likely would be this weekend before doctors know if she will survive.
He added that the baby does not yet have a name. The infant's mother is being held without bail on suspicion of second-degree felony attempted homicide.
"It would be nice if somehow somebody could get her a mental evaluation, so she doesn't get put in the jail with everybody else and gets beat up or something happens to her," Englert told The Salt Lake City Tribune, adding that his daughter reads at a third-grade level, can't spell and has difficulty comprehending simple concepts.
Despite her parents' claims, Unified Police Department Detective Jared Richardson said police don't have any medical evidence of Alicia Englert having developmental disabilities at this time.
