The daughter of a Baseball Hall of Fame pitcher is facing criminal charges involving allegations of child neglect and assault.
Alexandra Eckersley, the 26-year-old adopted daughter of former Boston Red Sox and Oakland Athletics star Dennis Eckersley, 68, has been charged with second-degree assault and other counts stemming from an incident in New Hampshire on Monday, the New York Post reported.
She has been charged with second-degree assault with extreme indifference, felony reckless conduct, endangering the welfare of a child, and falsifying physical evidence.
Alexandra Eckersley allegedly gave birth to a baby boy in a tent in a wooded area of Manchester, New Hampshire, early Monday morning and abandoned the child there — uncovered in 18-degree temperatures.
Police arrived following a report of a childbirth at the site.
The suspect told the authorities looking for the child that she didn’t know where the infant was, according to an affidavit obtained by WCVB-TV.
The child eventually was found struggling to breathe in the tent near the Piscataquog River at about 1 a.m. on Monday, according to the Post.
Alexandra Eckersley has been arraigned on the criminal charges while she remains hospitalized.
Prosecutors are describing her as a homeless drug addict, according to WCVB. They said Eckersley’s mom, Nancy, told law enforcement that she and Dennis offered their daughter drug treatment for several years, but she refused.
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“They had an open offer for her to come home on the condition that she go to treatment for drug use, and she obviously made the choice not to,” Assistant Hillsborough County Attorney Carl Olson said of the parents.
The suspect admitted to smoking marijuana and using cocaine in the days before the child’s birth, according to the affidavit of charges. She also said she didn’t know she was pregnant.
The child — born prematurely at 4 pounds — is receiving medical treatment at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center in Hanover, New Hampshire, according to the Post.
The baby’s condition is improving.
Manchester Police Chief Allen Aldenberg slammed Alexandra Eckersley’s alleged abandonment of the newborn child, according to WCVB.
“There’s no excuse for this,” Aldenberg said. “If you choose to live in the woods and choose to live your life a particular way, and you don’t want to accept our outreach that goes every day in this city — and you want to live out there and do that with your life — fine.”
“But you don’t get to do this, what we’re alleging here. You don’t get to do this to a child.”
A judge set Alexandra Eckersley’s bail at $3,000, according to the Post.
