New Eckersley horror raps
MLB star’s kin in baby ‘dump’
The adopted daughter of MLB Hall of Fame pitcher Dennis Eckersley has been slapped with additional charges of dumping her newborn in New Hampshire woods in 18-degree weather.
Alexandra Eckersley, who was initially charged with felony reckless conduct and endangering the welfare of a child, also faces counts of second-degree assault with extreme indifference and falsifying physical evidence, WCVB reported.
The 26-year-old woman learned of the new charges during her phone arraignment Tuesday as she remains hospitalized, according to the news outlet.
Manchester police responding to a report of a woman who had given birth in a tent in the woods at about 1 a.m. Monday found the uncovered baby, who was struggling to breathe, near the Piscataquog River, officials said.
According to an affidavit cited by WCVB, Eckersley told police she did not know she was pregnant and admitted to using cocaine and marijuana in the days before the baby’s birth.
She also allegedly lied to police about the baby’s whereabouts and said she had given birth prematurely.
During the arraignment, prosecutors said the baby boy, who weighs just 4 pounds, was intubated at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center in Hanover.
On Monday, Manchester Police Chief Allen Aldenberg said the baby boy was improving, WCVB reported.
Under New Hampshire’s Safe Haven Law, babies up to seven days old may be left at any fire station, hospital, police station or church, the news channel said.
“At age 2 Allie was diagnosed with mental illness, which worsened considerably through the years, leading to multiple hospitalizations and eventually institutionalization,” the Eckersley family said in a statement to the Concord Monitor in May 2019, when columnist Ray Duckler interviewed Alexandra about her experience being homeless in Concord.