Abandoned Baby Case: Charge Dropped Against Alleged Father

Assault charges have been dropped against the boyfriend of a woman charged with abandoning her six-week-old daughter on the side of the road – an allegation she disputes from jail.

Cordell Lee Hall, 26, of Baltimore was charged with second-degree assault for the July 4 incident. Last month he had requested his bail amount of $45,000 be lowered, but that was denied by an Anne Arundel County judge, says the state’s attorney’s office.

On Thursday, prosecutors dropped the charges against Hall because the only witness is his girlfriend, Sandra McClary, and she has invoked her Fifth Amendment right not to testify and incriminate herself. With no other proof of the assault, prosecutors had to let Hall go.

McClary said Hall grabbed her wrist several times, and pushed her in the chest and head as they argued when she got lost driving the couple to a Fourth of July party, according to court documents.

McClary, 26, of Baltimore, was charged in July with child neglect and reckless endangerment for allegedly leaving her infant daughter, Angelique, along a Pasadena road. As their argument continued, McClary stopped the car, both adults got out, and Hall reportedly shoved her. At that point, McClary told police, she left Hall and their baby at 920 Druid Hill Ave. in Pasadena; no time was specified.

Just before 11 that night a homeowner saw the infant in her car seat – sweaty but otherwise apparently in good health – and called police.

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When police blanketed the media with a plea to help find the abandoned baby’s parents, McClary called police the following morning. She claimed Hall -- the infant’s father -- was supposed to have the child and she didn’t know where he was. The mother also told dispatchers she did not know of the baby’s whereabouts, police say.

During a previous bail hearing for Sandra McClary, authorities said she is the mother of four children ages 6, 3, 1, and baby Angelique, reports WTOP. The 3-year-old and Angelique are in the custody of social services.

McClary told police she could never return home or Hall would kill her.

A request in July to lower McClary’s $500,000 bail was rejected as prosecutors argued she was a flight risk with a criminal past. Her current trial date is set for Oct. 27 in Annapolis District Court.

»Photos of Sandra McClary, daughter, courtesy of Anne Arundel County Police