An Arnold teenager convicted of killing her newborn son after giving birth to him in a toilet was released Thursday after serving only eight months at a juvenile detention facility.
Megan Patria, 19, turned to her family and smiled after Anne Arundel Circuit Judge Nancy Davis-Loomis discharged her from the Waxters Juvenile Facility for delinquent girls in Southern Maryland.
“I do not believe that I have any basis at this point to say that Megan is a threat to public safety,” Davis-Loomis said, adding that Patria took responsibility for the murder and proved she has made great strides in rehabilitation. Keeping her detained would only serve as further punishment, Davis-Loomis said.
Patria, with her pink shirt and blond curls, will move out of the state with her father and remain on supervised probation until she turns 21 in September 2009. She is required to maintain employment and continue her college education.
“I?m thankful to you for giving me a second chance and not just locking me up and throwing away the key,” Patria told the judge.
Patria was found delinquent ? the juvenile equivalent to guilty ? of second-degree murder in August but remained on community detention at her mother?s house until she was admitted Nov. 16 to Waxters.
By July, the state Department of Juvenile Services filed a report with the court indicating that Patria was successful in her rehabilitation programs and should be discharged.
Defense attorney Howard Cardin said Patria became a mentor to other girls at Waxters, and she is taking college courses to become a nurse.
But prosecutor Laura Kiessling doubted Patria?s speedy rehabilitation and asked the judge to detain her until she is 21.
“Eight months at Waxters, and that took care of all her issues in regards to this matter. … That is not enough [time],” Kiessling said.
“She has continued to maintain that the baby was stillborn, and that is not taking responsibility.”
Patria was 17 in December 2005 when she delivered her full-term baby in a toilet and then, believing he was dead, placed his body in a trash can.
The autopsy revealed the baby was born alive but died from asphyxiation either from drowning in the toilet or suffocating in the trash bag.
“I know I should have called 911,” Patria told the judge Thursday.
“I know I should have told my parents, but I was scared. … I know it?s my fault that my son Jordan is not here today.”
Patria?s parents declined comment.
