Judge Alejandro Vargas, hearing the case of 25-year old Yohanni Martínez, accused of stealing the baby girl of a 15-year old Winifer Cruz from the La Altagracia Maternity Hospital, gave Martínez a break. Prosecutors had requested pre-trial custody on grounds of her deceiving hospital staff, but the judge said there were major breakdowns of procedures at the hospital and ordered a DNA test of the baby.
The court recounted the story by Martínez who said that after giving birth to a 3.5 lb premature baby on 27 July, she was called by the hospital and told her baby had died. At the hospital she noticed that her name was on the list in the intensive care unit with a baby in an incubator and she thought the baby was hers. She said a doctor called her and told her a mistake had been made and her baby was alive and that she should visit the hospital to breast feed, which was what she did. She said they delivered the baby to her on 29 September 2017.
Police searched for and eventually found the baby after the 15-year old alerted her baby had been taken.
Judge Vargas suggested the DNA test to be totally convinced there is not a mistake that has been made on one side or the other. He said that the authorities need to delve further into the case because in the hospital contradictory information was given.
“While the mother of the baby girl is very upset, we also have to understand the drama of the accused. She had a baby who died, and it is obvious the hospital had poorly managed this situation. And if that is the way the hospital deal with these types of cases, I would dread to be born at that hospital, because I would not know into whose hands I would be placed,” he stated.
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Diario Libre
16 October 2017
