Woman who claims she found 'abandoned baby' admits to being the mother
A woman claiming to find an abandoned baby girl in a Beltsville, Md., neighborhood has admitted to police that she is in fact the girl’s mother. After the baby was reportedly found by Khiana Jackson after stepping out on the back porch, the woman, who originally was identified as a neighbor, called police.
As it turns out, however, Jackson was actually the hours-old girl’s mother. While Maryland does have a safe haven law that allows a mother to legally leave a child less than 10 days old at a fire station, police station or hospital, this protection does not extend to children left in people’s backyards.
In an interview, Jackson says her reaction to finding the baby was “This is crazy. I’m overwhelmed; what do I do at this point?”
Jackson later admitted to police that she made up the story because she had just given birth to the baby girl within her home, and was “feeling overwhelmed,” according to NBC Atlanta. The police indicated that the baby was never actually outdoors.
The 23-year old Jackson is the mother of five other children and will be allowed to maintain custody of them. It is uncertain at this time whether she will be able to keep the baby girl. Prince George’s County Police were inundated with calls offering to adopt the baby girl after the first story broke.
