The 17-year-old girl charged as an adult with killing her newborn “had every intent of having the baby,” her attorney said Wednesday.
Baltimore defense attorney Howard Cardin said Megan Patria planned to give birth with the help of a girlfriend at her mother?s home in Arnold and then raise the baby. But Patria lost more than 50 percent of her blood while giving birth and was unable to reach the friend who planned to help her, Cardin said.
Patria had a baby boy Dec. 4, 2005. The baby was later found by Patria?s mother in a container outside their home. The infant was taken to the medical examiner, who ruled the death a homicide.
Cardin said he could not comment on the how the baby got outside in the trash can because Patria was in a weakened state and her recollection of the events was not keen.
Cardin said Patria is guilty not of murder but of making an “immature decision.”
“I think it was a poor decision to believe that two young girls could handle a childbirth,” Cardin said.
Patria did not tell her mother and father she was pregnant because she feared her parents would be angry with her, Cardin said.
“I think she felt that it would be easier once the child was born,” Cardin said.
Patria, who now lives in Perry Hall with her father, was indicted Friday on second-degree murder charges by an Anne Arundel County grand jury. She was also charged with child abuse resulting in death and manslaughter. Patria turned herself in to authorities Monday afternoon.
She was released from Anne Arundel County Detention Center on Tuesday after District Judge Robert Wilcox reduced her bail from $750,000 to $150,000.
The charge carries a maximum sentence of 30 years in prison.
