Custody at issue in abandoned Wheaton baby case

A Wheaton woman for the first time publicly expressed concern for the newborn son she is accused of abandoning after giving him life.

A handcuffed Nunu Sung sobbed uncontrollably while inquiring about the boy's health during a brief DuPage County court hearing Tuesday to determine custody.

Judge C. Stanley Austin postponed the shelter care hearing until later this summer at the request of Sung's attorney, who said the 24-year-old native of Myanmar is having difficulty understanding the court proceedings. A Burmese interpreter translated, but Sung's native language actually is Chin, which is spoken in another region of the country.

Sung is charged with two counts of obstructing justice and misdemeanor endangering the life of a child.

Prosecutors said she abandoned the infant, named Joshua, after she gave birth behind a garage early June 12 outside her Crescent Street apartment. A neighbor called 911 after discovering the nude baby, his umbilical cord still attached, covered in dirt under a bush.

Joshua was released Monday from Central DuPage Hospital in Winfield, officials said. The Illinois Department of Children and Family Services has placed the healthy baby in a temporary foster home.

Prosecutor Augusta Clarke said Tuesday authorities attempted to contact the baby's father in Texas, but he so far has ignored phone calls and a certified letter. He and Sung were not married. She does not have other children.

Authorities said Sung, who never received prenatal care, hid her pregnancy from relatives after moving to Wheaton from Texas in February. Sung later said she felt no emotional connection to the infant and wished they both died during his delivery, according to court records.

Prosecutors said she told police she "wasn't thinking straight," adding, "She stated that she thought about going back to check on the child, but she didn't."

Sung faces up to three years in prison if convicted. She remains in the DuPage County jail on a $100,000 bond. A judge has ordered a mental evaluation in the criminal case.