Holly Ashcraft: 42 second drive would have saved her newborn son
Holly Ashcraft is accused of killing her newborn infant that was found next to a dumpster near the University of California. One of the many tragedies of this story is that a Safe Surrender site just a few blocks away. Police report that the umbilical cord was still attached to the newborn when he was discovered.
In fact if you look at the Google Map of the area, the distance between the dumpster where Holly Ashcraft’s child was found and nearby Fire Station #15 you will see that Google calculates it as just a forty-two seconds drive. Less than a minute to preserve a life, doesn’t seem like much to us.
A little over a year ago Holly Ashcraft was suspected of killing or disposing of another child but the lack of a body kept police from ever filing charges.
You would think that this was an open and shut case in the court of public opinion, no debate, time to move on and let the justice system do its job. That’s how Independent Sources views it. Imagine our surprise when apologists turned out raising irrelevant arguments and thereby in part excusing her behavior. They also bring in completely irrelevant arguments about our nation’s abortion laws/practices as a contributing factor. Here is an excerpt of a comment of one such apologist:
Lack of access to abortion should result in more instances of of infanticide. Opportunities for you to feel smug, superior and self righteous will abound for right thinking folks.
Under state law, a mother who does want to keep her baby can relinquish a newborn to any hospital or fire station with no questions asked–a so-called “Safe Surrender”.
So how exactly do we make excuses for a “mother” who kills her child because she does not want to make the 42 second trip to a place where the child can be turned over and live. If one is screwed up enough that they can’t make this decision (for whatever reason) then their moral compass is so skewed that they should not be walking among us (not to mention having their tubes tied).
USC has Counselling Services readily available–including a crisis response team for urgent concerns. Deciding whether or not whether to place a baby in a dumpster like this (photo credit: NBC4.TV) would appear to be a “urgent concern.” But they can’t help if they aren’t called.
Additional information/questions: Ashcraft is sitting in jail pending someone posting $2 million bail and faces 25 years to life. She will be arraigned November 9th. The only comparable case that I know of is 8 years ago when Linda Chu, then a 20-year-old USC business major, was sentenced to 10 years in prison for killing her newborn and dropping her into a trash chute at Century.
The Billings Gazette tracked down Ashcraft’s father who had this to say “She’s one hell of a good kid, and I’m puzzled. I don’t understand it.” (note: the father added that he hadn’t spoken to his daughter in 3 years). We also read that she is attending USC on a full scholarship. We believe that these and other statements mean that there is a lot more to this story. How does a former honor student get on academic probation? How does a father not speak to his daughter for three years? Who paid her legal fees the last time she was under suspicion for abandoning a newborn?
The LAT has done a very good job covering this story but of course they are not permitted to express the full range of emotions that they are no doubt feeling. For that you need to turn to these:
8763 Wonderland 8 Million Ways to Die
Area 417 Holly Ashcraft Strikes Again
Spartacus Sad and Odd
Electric Escape Baby Dropping Proposal
Horseback Riders Holly Ashcraft/USC Dead Baby Case – Arrested and Charged
Mark’s Forum The State of Parenting
Everybody Love Tana I’m at a Loss
Fresh Hell News Baby-killing case against daughter shocks dad
Communicating Critical Thinking Why Do Mothers Abandon Newborns?
Horseback Rider added this:
Working in law enforcement, we become accustomed to seeing the worst side of human beings on a daily basis. After a while, you begin to accept that people who do bad things exist, and that finding and arresting them — hopefully before they have a chance to kill someone — is one of the most important tasks you undertake. However, there are some things that make you shake your head and wonder what in the world is running through people’s minds when they commit a crime. This is one of those cases.
At a time when Roe vs. Wade is a determining factor in the next addition to the Supreme Court it is easy to see why abortion is on everyone’s mind (pro and con). We just hope that the Holly Ashcraft case does not become part of that debate. This is a case of a likely repeat offender who had every opportunity to avoid pregnancy or surrender the child safely without any recriminations. Instead she chose murder. Please do not tell us that the responsibility for this heinous crime lies with anyone or anything other than with her.
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Must Read Story Update: LAT Delves Deeper into Baby Killer
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UPDATE: June 2007 and more legal wrangling and more inane positioning from Geragos.
Additional (only distantly related) reading:
Independent Sources viewed the Scott Peterson case with equal disdain and when we wrote “Having Killed Laci, Scott Peterson Sets Sights on Killing Wristband Fad” we were quite surprised that there were in fact Peterson supporters in the world, some of whom left comments to our post. Creepy.
Maybe this is a case for the ACLU?
technorati: holly ashcraft safe surrender
Similar Independent Sources posts:
- Bad Parenting: You put your kid in a trash bin; Holly Ashcraft Returns: Holly Ashcraft, the 22 year old suspended USC student who was arrested last October after her new born baby was found in a trash bin outside her apart ...
- 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 aban ...
- Holly Ashcraft baby killing presents all with opportunity to promote their own agendas: Background: Holly Ashcraft is charged with killing her newborn infant by tossing him in a dumpster near here apartment when a safe surrender site was ...
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March 20th, 2010 at 5:28 am
10 kids of all time that I’ve ever worked with academically.” What does this say for the Los Angeles justice system? In conjunction with the recent Paris Hilton circus I assume you can draw your own conclusions. Independent Sources points out that the baby was dumped only a few blocks from a hospital where Ashcraft could have surrendered her baby with no questions asked. In fact if you look at the Google Map of the area, the distance between the dumpster where Holly Ashcraft’s child was found and nearby Fire Station #15 you will see that Google
March 20th, 2010 at 5:28 am
According to the site, Independent Sources, Ashcraft’s second deceased baby was found a mere 42 second drive away from Fire Station No. 15 according to Google Maps. Police said the baby was found dead still attached to his umbilical cord. (http://independentsources.com/2005/10/16/holly-ashcraft)Back to Top | Email to a Friend Massachusetts Marriage Amendment Faces Critical Vote Tomorrow
March 20th, 2010 at 5:28 am
if things don’t work out a second time, just toss the body in a dumpster? This “lady” needs to take some responsibility, and quit getting pregnant. I won’t even get into how in either case there was no father identified. By the way, the hospital is less than a minute from where the baby was found. Plenty of additional info on Ms. Ashcraft can be found by doing a simple Google search.
October 18th, 2005 at 12:25 am
that would be a positive outcome for both her and her child. No doubt they will go after the father, if they can figure out who he is. I am so disgusted by this. How do you kill a child? I just don’t get it. Other sources:LATimes StoryDaily Trojan Independent Sources I hope people wake up. Time to care about other people, and the unborn.
October 19th, 2005 at 5:48 am
[...] elight, Holly is now 2/3 of the way through a hat-trick. Independent Sources reports that Holly was a suspect in yet another late-term abortion a year ago, but si [...]
October 25th, 2005 at 8:49 am
I have one daughter and since then have experienced a lot of problems and probably cannot have children ever again. I would give anything to have another chance at having children. All I want to know Is where did her motherly instinct come in at? Does she feel any remorse? What the hell is wrong with this girl? I graduated from West high a year after she did. I never knew her, which doesnt say a whole lot, but damn, Im glad I dont have to say I knew someone like that. Its bad enough having gone to school with a flusy that kills her children.
November 6th, 2005 at 6:20 pm
[...] nstead of placing the infant in a bassinet, she placed it here:
For the story, click here.
Posted 10/30/2005 at 6:1 [...]
November 10th, 2005 at 1:46 am
[...] r this entry:http://haloscan.com/tb/horsebackriders/112923050904681784Holly Ashcraft: 42 second drive would have saved her newborn sonExcer [...]
November 14th, 2005 at 1:13 pm
Not just one but TWO babies? Such a seemingly educated woman should have had some knowledge of birth control. Sinister, cruel and stupid is what she is. I believe a hefty prison sentence and mandatory sterilization if she is ever released is what her future should hold.
November 23rd, 2005 at 2:58 am
Hallo,
A panpal friend of mine, life-inmate of MCI, wrote me: ” Holly Ashcraft faces murder charges now in California. The reason I am interested is because she is from Billings. I do not know her, but I would like to write her because I think she and I are in similar situations and perhaps I could give her some words of encouragement. Please find out in which jail she is and what the address is”.
Would you please help.
Gunter Kelm
December 14th, 2005 at 2:07 am
Bail Reduction Leads to Release of Student Accused in Infant’s Death. For more on the Ashcraft case, try these links: Holly Ashcraft Strikes Again?, Holly Ashcraft’s Dad Shocked, Holly Ashcraft’s Shame: Suspected in Double Infanticide, and Holly Ashcraft: 42 second drive would have saved her newborn son
December 20th, 2005 at 11:12 pm
To whom it may concern:
I am currently a student at USC. I am currently a friend of Holly Ashcraft’s. I am currently a resident of the street on which that baby was abandonned. While I have had all ties with Holly cut off thanks to the media and the judicial system, I still stand by my friend. While I wholeheartedly agree that the abandonment of a child is a horrific crime, a terrible injustice to one who cannot chose for himself, I would ask you to please consider the stones that you are throwing. Place yourself in this girl’s shoes. I understand that it is absolutely unimaginable to destroy a life, one created of your own flesh and blood, think for a moment what it would also be like to be alienated from your family, to have been a honors student and find that window of opportunity closing, to be completely lost in a cold and superficial city, not knowing where to turn and who to turn to. A previous posting mentioned an apparent lack of understanding of birth control: yes, that was the environment in which Holly was raised. Many articles mention the Safe Haven Act: poll the students of USC, of any university, town, or city before Holly’s case came to light and discover for yourself the number of young pople that are aware of such a solution. I am just as baffled and disgusted as you by what the media has portrayed at double homicide, but I also know a Holly Ashcraft who was a pillar of understanding, compassion, and friendship in my freshman dorm. Also, consider the recent acknowledgements of the LA Times that the two apparent “murders of full term babies” was flaudulent, that these were in fact fetuses of around 32 gestation. While this is no excuse, no reason that Holly should be pronounced innocent, I beg that you not be so eager in your condemnations and your judgements. If you must judge, if you must hate and spit, please do so after having considered all possible facets. You may hate me and call me a murderess-loving California-born idiot, which is fine, but think twice about Holly. Thank you.
December 21st, 2005 at 8:46 am
Thank you for your post and certainly do not think you are a murder-loving idiot or that Holly is a demon. However, we have a significant disagreement with the concept of personal responsibility and the choices that Holly made. She was an honor student and didn’t understand about birth control, safe surrender, legalized abortion, etc.? No offense but these are not hard things to learn for someone who is interested in doing so. USC has numerous resources for people who are unsure where to turn or even talking to a friend. But if one decides that instead of making mom & dad disappointed to toss a kid in the trash, we’ll that’s just wrong.
It’s nice to hear that she was such a nice person but nice people can do very bad things. Anytime a murderer is caught there is usually no shortage of people to say “what a great person so-and-so was,” “can’t beleive it was them,” etc. I’m sure they are telling the truth from their perspectives. One doesn’t have to be a monster to do monstrous thingds.
We are not eager to attack as you say but we do have to admit that if we were to draw up a list of things that make us very mad–tossing kids in dumpsters is near the top. The fact that this is not a universally held opinion strikes us as odd to say the least.
December 21st, 2005 at 9:37 am
Thank you for your respectful consideration of my posting – which is more that I can say for some others. I have met with detectives of the LAPD and spoken with them regarding Holly, the case, the previous alleged abortion, her character. I cannot agree more with your stance. I was in utter disbelief when I learned that it was Holly who commited this atrocity. I simply want to ensure that Holly is duly punished for the crimes that she is said to have committed when all is proven, but also to try to hold my own judgements until her Jan. 12 court date when more information may be released. I just find it difficult to match the Holly before with the Holly that everyone is shown now. In the mean time, I repect, share, and understand your opinions; thanks for listening to mine.
December 21st, 2005 at 9:40 am
You should be a blogger. I don’t think it’s impossible or wrong to support Holly while comdeming what she did as you are doing and of course we will all learn more as the case unfolds.
December 24th, 2005 at 8:23 am
I am the mother of a full-term stillborn baby and I cannot have any other children due to complications. I would have given my heart and soul to adopt Holly’s infant son or any other unwanted infant of any race or sex. There are so many of us out there who struggle with infertility who would have given just about anything we own to adopt her baby, most of us now go overseas to adopt because of the dearth of available infants in the US. However, I cannot condemn this poor girl. I remember walking out of the hospital without my baby who was in the hospital morgue, the pain, anguish, despair and rage I felt cannot be described. I cannot imagine the demons Holly suffers. God bless you, child.
December 24th, 2005 at 10:30 am
Remember that in writing about this case and in dealing with whatever punishment gets dished out against Holly that this case isn’t just about her and her 1 or 2 child killings. It is about all of the future Hollys out there who are too scared, uniformed or morally-corrupt to do the right thing and decide to follow Holly’s path to the dumpster. The more that Holly’s story is told the more likely the next would-be killer chooses the right path. I agree that Holly is probably in a world of hurt and do feel for her. I don’t believe that she is evil but do believe she did an evil thing. As a society we need to do something to stop the Holly’s from tossing their kids in the trash. To me it’s that simple.
March 26th, 2006 at 2:04 pm
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September 26th, 2006 at 10:43 pm
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October 10th, 2006 at 7:35 pm
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February 5th, 2007 at 12:58 am
Ashcraft also claimed to have birthed a stillborn baby in April, 2004, but was not charged in that case because the body was never found. See news page http://abclocal.go.com/kabc/story?section=local&id=4999361 and page http://independentsources.com/2005/10/16/holly-ashcraft/ and flashback no-spin shyster interview page http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,173526,00.html – - – Police in Saskatoon, Canada are searching for the mother of a newborn girl abandoned at the back door of a private home in -21 degrees C (6
June 8th, 2007 at 1:11 pm
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June 13th, 2007 at 6:38 am
[...] with murdering her newborn son.
More info: http://independentsources.com/…/10/16/holly-ashcraft/
Video: http://cbs2.com/topstori [...]
June 13th, 2007 at 12:16 pm
[...] le Maps. Police said the baby was found dead still attached to his umbilical cord. ( [...]
June 13th, 2007 at 5:11 pm
[...] ld-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 De [...]
June 13th, 2007 at 6:15 pm
[...] fant by tossing him in a dumpster near here apartment when a safe surrender site was a mere 42 seconds away from the murder scene. Not surprisingly, the immense media coverage of [...]
June 13th, 2007 at 6:19 pm
[...] those of you who don’t know, here is the whole sordid Holly Ashcraft story (link and link). technorati: holly ashcraft ************** Okay, now we’re just getting l [...]
June 14th, 2007 at 1:34 am
[...] or alive….and for the SECOND TIME? Read More Articles on this Story: 42 Second Drive Would Have Saved Ashcraft’s Son Holly Ashcraft Strikes Again! Ashc [...]