Testimony begins in Dana Wilson's baby dumping trial
FORT WORTH -- A baby left discarded in a Hurst trash bin in 2003 was stuffed in a tied Wal-Mart plastic bag along with garbage, witnesses testified Monday.
And that Wal-Mart bag was inside a large black trash bag that also had been tied shut, the witnesses said.
Christopher Dale Rechard was found on Nov. 14, 2003, by two people only after they heard a noise coming from the trash bin.
"I thought someone had hit a cat, put it in a bag and left it to die," said Katy Marquis, a veterinarian technician and one of the two people who found the baby.
"I expected a cat to jump out when I tore the large bag, but there was nothing," said Lee Chenault, the veterinarian for whom Marquis works. The trash bin was near Chenault's Metroplex Animal Clinic. "But when we tore the smaller bag, there was this little baby."
Chenault and Marquis recalled their discovery on the first day of testimony in the attempted capital murder trial of Dana Wilson of Hurst, the baby's mother.
Wilson, 25, is the daughter of a former Tarrant County judge. Wilson is accused of trying to kill her newborn son shortly after she delivered him.
Christopher survived, but prosecutors say he suffered severe brain damage from a lack of oxygen while he was in the plastic bags.
If convicted, Wilson faces a maximum of life in prison.
Prosecutor Mitch Poe described the case as simple.
"What you see is what you get," said Poe in an opening statement to the jury of seven women and five men. "Hours after delivering her baby, she goes to her college classes and acts normal. She appears detached from her child. But it was a murderous act."
Ward Maedgen of Dallas, Wilson's attorney, did not present an opening statement.
Wilson showed no emotion throughout the day.
But Wilson closed her eyes Monday morning as prosecutors showed a photo to the jury of Christopher being treated at Cook Children's Medical Center in Fort Worth, a few hours after he was discovered.
Wilson told a friend that she became pregnant in early 2003 by a man she met through an Internet dating service, according to the arrest affidavit.
On Nov. 14, Wilson told at least two friends that she had given birth that morning at her home in the 400 block of West Louella Drive in Hurst, the affidavit says. She lived there with her mother, Delbra Wilson, Hurst police said.
DNA tests proved that Wilson is Christopher's mother, prosecutors said.
Christopher was discovered just minutes before the garbage was scheduled to be picked up from the trash bin, Marquis said.
In the bags along with Christopher, investigators found two Doritos bags, an empty Winston cigarette carton, a Moon Pie wrapper, a McDonald's restaurant toy plastic bag, an empty Healthy Choice nutrition wrapper, an Arizona herbal tea bottle, a Soft & Dri deodorant and a Gourmet popcorn bag.
Acting on tips, Hurst investigators searched Dana Wilson's car and her home a few days after Christopher was found, according to police testimony Monday.
From her car, Hurst police seized brochures from the Parenting Center and the Women's Center in Tarrant County, a Baby Dolls employment application and a few handwritten letters.
Police also confiscated sheets, a bathroom throw rug, socks, panties and a pillow from her home, all stained with blood, police testified.
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Posted by Editor at June 21, 2005 06:18 AM
