A newborn baby in Florida is in critical condition after his mother gave birth while on a 24-hour drug binge.
The baby’s mother, Chrystal Hassell, 37, was seven months pregnant when she gave birth. She told investigators she went into labor after spending the day smoking crack cocaine. She delivered the baby alone in a motel bathtub and reportedly cut the umbilical cord with her teeth.
“At one point, according to her telling investigators, the baby stopped breathing,” Judge Cochran, public information officer for the Marion County Sheriff’s Office.
Hassell gave the baby breaths for nearly an hour before calling 911. Since being airlifted to UF Health Shands Hospital in Gainesville, Fla., the baby remains in critical condition.
Hassell checked in to the Vacation Host Inn in Ocala, Fla. on Friday night with her 11-month-old son and her boyfriend, Vincent Terry, who was wanted for attempted murder in Colorado. At the time of the baby’s birth, Terry and the child were out on an errand.
After giving birth, Hassell called Terry to tell him to return to the motel. On his way back, Terry was pulled over for speeding— and it was only after learning that Terry wasn’t coming that Hassell called 911.
“She should have called 911 earlier — she should have reached out to medical professionals, she didn’t do that, and that’s why she’s in jail,” Cochran said.
Hassell and Terry are both in Marion County Jail, where she has been charged with child neglect. The 11-month-old boy has been placed in foster care.
Source: fox news