Illegal teen gets away with murder of newborn

Murder charges to be dropped against teen accused of killing her newborn
Fernando del Valle (Valley Morning Star)
September 4, 2007 - 8:44PMRAYMONDVILLE — A judge Tuesday said he will dismiss a case against an 18-year-old woman charged in the capital murder of her newborn baby, because Willacy County District Attorney Juan Angel Guerra failed to present evidence in a hearing. Justice of the Peace Juan Silva said he will dismiss the case against Wendy Gill after Guerra, who did not appear for the hearing, wrote a letter requesting the charges be dropped. “I had no choice,” Silva said after the hearing to determine whether there was evidence to arrest Gill. “I wasn’t too happy about it.” Guerra said after the proceedings that the law did not require him to appear for the hearing, because he was not presenting evidence. “The state will not introduce evidence at this time. Therefore, the state is hereby requesting the charges against Wendy Monserrat Gill be dismissed,” Guerra wrote in the letter. The case will be presented to a grand jury that will determine whether there is evidence to indict Gill, the letter says. Gill remained in the county jail Tuesday afternoon, where she has been held in lieu of $1 million bond on charges that she murdered her infant on June 3. Investigators said Gill wrapped the baby in towels after giving birth to him in the bathroom of the family’s Lyford home. Guerra’s request for dismissal of the charges shocked Sheriff Larry Spence, whose deputies investigated the case, leading to Gill’s confession that she smothered the infant to hide her pregnancy. In that confession, she said her mother had threatened to kick her out of the house if she became pregnant a second time. Gill has an 18-month-old daughter. “I’m baffled,” Spence said. “Putting (Gill) on the street right now is probably not in the best interest of the case or in her best interest.” Silva said he warned defense attorney Annette Hinojosa that Gill, a Mexican citizen, could flee the country. The justice of the peace had previously refused requests by Guerra to dismiss the charges against Gill and to reduce her bail to $5,000 so she could be released on bond for psychiatric evaluation at a state hospital. “They did not want to be responsible for a capital murder suspect,” Guerra said of the hospital. However, the dismissal of the murder charge would allow Gill to get that evaluation, he said. The district attorney said he feared for Gill’s welfare after jail officials put her on a suicide watch last month. Gill is now “doing fine” in jail, Spence said. Guerra said the psychiatric evaluation issue wasn’t the only factor in his decision to request the charges be dismissed. He also said he hadn’t had time to adequately review the case after receiving it about two weeks ago. The state attorney general’s office was handling the case until Guerra asked its three prosecutors to leave his office last month, Spence said. Guerra also said he could not present the case to a grand jury Friday after foreman Tommy Rains asked state District Judge Migdalia Lopez to meet with jurors without Guerra in the courtroom.