Woman gets jail, probation in baby’s death

A Round Lake Beach woman who accepted responsibility for the death of her newborn daughter was sentenced to 18 months in jail Wednesday.

Nericia Davis, 24, will be released from custody only for work, school and mental health counseling.

On March 25, 2007, Davis was a little more than six months pregnant and experienced some abdominal discomfort while at home by herself. Davis went to the bathroom and delivered the infant girl into the toilet, Lake County Assistant State’s Attorney Ari Fisz said.

She later told police she saw the baby move and make sounds in the toilet. Rather than call for help, Fisz said, Davis cut the umbilical cord, then lay on the floor of the bathroom for about two hours until her mother came home and called paramedics.

Fisz said although the baby was born prematurely, an autopsy showed the infant had no diseases or birth defects.

“That baby would have lived if the defendant would have done anything to help,” Fisz said in recommending Davis be sent to prison for 14 years. “If she had picked the baby up and wrapped it in a blanket, that baby would be alive today.”

Assistant Public Defender Kathleen McGee asked Circuit Judge Fred Foreman to place her client on probation, saying Davis was unprepared to deal with the birth of her child.

“She was emotionally overwhelmed and scared; she didn’t know who to talk to,” McGee said. “She was, at that moment, completely alone.” During a hearing in August, Davis maintained her plea of not guilty to involuntary manslaughter but admitted there was enough evidence to convict her of the crime.

She told Foreman on Wednesday she is trying to move on with her life and is at the top of her class in studies to become a dental assistant.

Foreman said cases like Davis’ “were some of the most difficult, if not the most difficult” to come before him because of the extraordinary circumstances.

He said he believed some portion of the sentence he gave Davis had to be punitive in nature so it would serve as a lesson to others.

“We have to show the public that there is a need to reach out to others in these situations,” Foreman said. “Then, perhaps we can prevent these tragedies from happening again.”

Foreman also sentenced Davis to four years on probation and ordered her to complete 240 hours of public service and whatever mental health treatment programs her probation officer recommends.