A woman accused of dropping her then 9-day-old son in front of a Los Alamitos Police Department officer was recently sentenced to probation.
It will be up to the court to decide if the mother will be allowed to regain custody of the child, who survived the fall.
There is no evidence the mother was under the influence of drugs or alcohol at the time.
Natasha Latise Lundy, 21, was originally charged with four felony counts: assault with a deadly weapon other than a firearm; corporal injury on a child; child endangerment and assault on a peace officer. Lundy pled guilty on July 9 to all charges.
The court sentenced her to three years probation, 365 days in jail and restitution for assault with a deadly weapon.
The court “stayed” her sentence for child endangerment.
Lundy will remain under the supervision of Orange County’s Whatever It Takes Court.
“Whatever It Takes Court is a specialized, voluntary program for non-violent offenders who are diagnosed as mentally ill and homeless,” said Farrah Emami, spokesperson for the Orange County District Attorney’s Office.
Lundy was scheduled to appear before a judge for her second probation progress report on Monday, July 30.
Information about the hearing was not available at press time.
According to authorities, on July 24, 2011, witnesses saw a woman swinging a small child around.
They called the Los Alamitos Police Department.
She was still swinging the baby when an officer arrived.
The officer ordered the her to stop swinging the baby.
She dropped the infant boy, who was then 9 days old.
The boy turned out to be her son. Fortunately, he survived. He was treated at UC Irvine Medical Center.
At the time of the mother’s arrest, Los Alamitos Police Capt. Bruce McAlpine said there was a question of whether the woman was competent.
Asked who would decide if Lundy would regain custody of her son, Emami said the court would make that determination.
To make a comment on this story at the Sun Newspapers’ website, go to www.sunnews.org.