Holly Ashcraft’s Shame: Suspected in Double Infantcide
I wonder how Tustin, California attorney Paul Wallin is feeling about now. A year ago he defended USC student Holly Ashcraft in a suspected abandoned baby case. He did such a good job that she was never charged nor apparently learned her lesson. Sadly, Ashcraft was left to repeat a heinous crime and was arrested this week on a newborn killing. Holly’s attorney has asked people to wait and see what the facts are before forming an opinion. Here are the facts that we know:
1. California has a “Safe Surrender” law that allows parents of newborn babies to deliver unwanted babies without penalty to prepared institutions such as fire stations. The law says that if a newborn is left anywhere other than a Safe Surrender site then the parent is subject to criminal prosecution. Putting the law aside, anyone who would leave a newborn anywhere other than a place set up for exactly this is no less than a baby killer. There should really be no debate on this.
2. Holly Ashcraft would be familiar with this law because it would no doubt have been a topic of conversation during the time she was suspected of a baby killing in 2004. Presumably her lawyers would have mentioned it as would the media coverage of the time. Being a USC student she presumably had access to the Internet and other information services about what to do with an unwanted baby.
3. A newborn baby boy was found dead in a cardboard box in a trash bin near Holly’s apartment north of the USC campus. It was found by a homeless man who called police.
4. Ashcraft has been arrested and held on $2 million bail. Her attorneys call this outrageous and in an unintentionally ironic statement said that this “bail amount is normally reserved for mass murderers…” Someone needs to tell this attorney that this is exactly what she is suspected of being. His other comment was “She should be anywhere other than in county jail.” Well, not to be crass but her baby should have been anywhere other than in a dumpster. She made her choice, something the baby did not have the option to do.
5. Her attorney’s case thus far appears to be on the lack of evidence that the baby was actually alive at birth. So he’s planning on playing the CSI card. One can imagine his thinking that even if it can be proved that his client tossed yet another baby into a trash bin, he’ll make them prove that this 2nd one was alive at that time.
It’s too bad that he did such a good job last time around that another baby ended up in a dumpster barely a year later. The California Safe Surrender law has a slogan “No Shame, No Blame,” but in this case there is a lot shame and blame to go around.
Photo credit: KTLA via the Los Angeles Times who also has additional coverage of this story.
8763 Wonderland is also on this which should not surprise us as it involves a highly publicized death in LA. Roger is getting good comments too. Hopefully a successful and public prosecution of Holly will get the story out to other would-be baby killers.
Update: There is a lot more to this story. Click here for our posting Holly Ashcraft: 42 second drive would have saved her newborn son.
Update: LAT Delves Deeper into Baby Killer
UPDATE: June 2007 and more legal wrangling and more inane positioning from Geragos.
technorati: USC infanticide holly ashcraft
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October 15th, 2005 at 12:19 pm
[…] n this circumstance? You can read all of Carrie’s comments here. SHOCKING UPDATE: Independent Sources reports that Holly Ashcr […]
October 15th, 2005 at 12:30 pm
Looks like we are on the same story again. My readers have left some pretty heated comments; there appears to be little sympathy for this woman.
http://8763wonderland.com/2005/10/13/8-million-ways-to-die-baby-john-doe-171/
October 15th, 2005 at 3:12 pm
Lack of access to abortion should result in more instances of of infanticide. Oportunities for you to feel smug, superior and self rigtheous will abound for right thinking folks. I can hardly wait.
October 15th, 2005 at 6:21 pm
Due Monday: the Linksys-Skype cordless phone On The Third Hand Mother Nature is a b*tch. Moore’s Lore Yahoo’s Blogging Dilemma Independent Sources Shame and Blame: USC Student Suspected in Double Infantcide Kerabu Free cake, she said powered by zFeeder PagesLosing Custody of My Hope
October 15th, 2005 at 11:07 pm
I hardly feel smug.
There were probably 5 fire stations within a 15 minute drive. Ample opportunity to discreetly deal with it. And that’s not even getting into the question of birth control.
Do we have lack of access to abortion in California? A well-off girl going to USC? Give me a break.
If you are going to attack us for the post an acceptable attack would be our pot shots at the lawyer since it is true that even scumbags deserve competent and agressive defense. The lawyers are just doing their job. That said, when someone is a repeat offender we always like to go back and see what the defense said first time around.
October 15th, 2005 at 11:49 pm
This is disgusting, sad, and ridiculous all at the same time.
October 16th, 2005 at 7:05 am
son in a trash bin near her apartment north of the USC campus. Police said the child was born alive but placed inside a cardboard box and deposited into the container. A homeless man picking through the trash discovered the child and called police. As Independent Sources
October 26th, 2005 at 2:13 am
So, Holly is a student at USC but is too stupid to know what Birth Control is! What the hell is wrong w/people?
October 26th, 2005 at 7:31 am
I don’t know but they (USC) has a great football team. #1 (oops, I mean #2) in the country.
October 26th, 2005 at 3:27 pm
I saw the attorney on the O’Reily Factor, and he kept reiterating that she was never charged with anything in the first case in 2004. So, no crime was committed. Well, they never found the baby from 2004. Therefore noone really knows if the baby was really stillborn or alive. If it truly was a stillborn baby the first time, why wouldn’t she tell the authorities where the body was.
September 26th, 2006 at 10:39 pm
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June 13th, 2007 at 6:15 pm
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June 13th, 2007 at 6:15 pm
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