GLENVIEW, Ill. (AP) - A 40-year-old suburban Chicago woman has been charged with attempted murder after her newborn was left in a trash can at the nursing home where she worked.
Verna Tolentino of Morton Grove also was charged in Cook County court with child abandonment. She was ordered held Friday on bail.
Tolentino was taken Jan. 11 by ambulance from the nursing home in Glenview to a hospital after complaining of abdominal pain, police said.
Later that day, cleaning staff found a newborn boy inside a plastic garbage bag in a bathroom trash can. The bag had been tied closed.
The child remains in a hospital.
Cook County Assistant State’s Attorney Andreana Turano said that when found, the boy weighed 2.7 pounds, had an umbilical cord still attached and was struggling to breathe, according to the Chicago Tribune.
It later was determined that Tolentino had given birth to the baby, who was in stable condition this week at a hospital.
Tolentino’s attorney, Jonathan Minkus, said she has a 6-year-old child and no prior criminal history, the Tribune reported.
Morton Grove and Glenview are northwest of Chicago.
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