Mom Tied Newborn in Plastic Bag, Hid Him Under Towels: Cops

MORTON GROVE, IL - A 21-year-old woman was charged with attempted first-degree murder on Monday after authorities say she gave birth to a baby boy then placed him in a plastic bag, tied it and hid it underneath a pile of towels in the bathroom.

Xin Zeng, 21, of Morton Grove, was charged Monday after police discovered the baby, who was found “blue and lifeless” by authorities. Police said it’s “an absolute miracle” he survived, reports the Morton Grove Champion.

Zeng is being held in Cook County Jail on $10 million bail.

Someone called 911 on Monday from a Nagel Avenue home to report his pregnant sister had been bleeding heavily, but when paramedics arrived it was unclear whether Zeng had given birth. She refused to speak with investigators.

After a few minutes of searching, responders found the newborn in a plastic bag that had been tied closed with a towel wrapped around it, underneath a pile of towels in the bathroom. It is believed the boy was born 5-15 minutes before paramedics arrived.

Morton Grove Police Cmdr. Paul Yaras said the boy began to breathe while being removed from the home and “started getting color” on the ambulance while heading for Advocate Lutheran General Hospital in Park Ridge.

“It’s an absolute miracle,” Yaras said. “The hospital said as much. The fire personnel on scene said that if they had left at that point with the mother and without the baby, the baby would have been dead. He was, for all intents and purposes, dead at that point.”

“She made no effort to save the baby. She made no effort to provide care for the baby. At this point the baby’s at the hospital being cared for, thank God.”

The boy remains hospitalized in good condition.

more via the Morton Grove Champion