Mother Who Tried to Drown Her Baby Face-Down in Toilet Won’t Face Prison Time A California mother who tried to drown her newborn immediately after birth in a toilet at a McDonald’s restaurant restroom will not face any prison time. Twenty-seven-year-old Sarah Jane Lockner gave birth to a boy on Sept. 4, 2017, while working as a cashier in McDonald’s in Redwood City, reported KMOV. On Friday San Mateo County Superior Court Judge Stephanie Garratt placed Lockner under four years of supervised probation and also ordered her to complete her parenting classes. A 27-year-old Redwood City woman won’t serve any time in prison for holding her newborn baby facedown in a toilet moments after giving birth at a McDonald’s restaurant restroom more than a year and a half ago, prosecutors said.​ https://t.co/0phVhIOkyF — KTLA (@KTLA) May 8, 2019 Lockner was originally charged with attempted murder but she didn’t object to pleading guilty to the lesser charge of felony child endangerment in a plea deal on Jan. 14. This child was the second for her, she gave birth to her first child at home five years ago. She told prosecutors that in both the cases she was unaware of her pregnancy. What Happened Inside the Bathroom? On that day Lockner went to the restroom many times complaining of a stomachache. During one trip a colleague noticed blood on the floor and Lockner described it as a heavy period. Another colleague went to check on her the second time and looked over the toilet enclosure and saw Lockner holding a newborn with his head down in the toilet. The colleague told investigators she heard her flushing the toilet as she stepped down. The mother told her colleagues not to call the police but they did anyway and on arrival, the officers found the baby not breathing and without a pulse. The baby was rushed to a hospital and placed under a medically induced coma and has recovered. District Attorney Steve Wagstaffe told KMOV that the child is under the care of his father’s aunt and is doing well. A Similar Case of a Father Trying to Drown Baby In a similar case, a Missouri father tried to drown his baby daughter but she miraculously survived. He was arrested after walking to a police station and confessing that he watched his daughter sink in a pond after allegedly trying to drown her. Jonathon Zicarelli, 28, allegedly admitted that the baby was in an icy pond near Doc Henry Road in Greenwood, Missouri, reported the Kansas City Star on Dec. 18, 2018. Officials said they discovered the child on her back and they thought she was a “porcelain doll.” “There was no emotion whatsoever,” Greenwood police spokesman Aaron Fordham said of Zicarelli’s demeanor. That’s when Police Chief Greg Hallgrimson and Cpl. Tom Calhoun rushed to the pond “in a reactionary state,” said Fordham to the Star. Calhoun waded into thigh-deep water in his police uniform, vest, and boots to get the child. He said the child’s skin had a lifeless color and she had mud in her eyes along with grass and water in her mouth. Police had estimated the girl was in the water for 10 minutes or longer. Calhoun rushed the girl to the bank of the pond and cleared her lungs before performing CPR, the Star reported. In a few moments, the child started breathing, Fordham said. “There was absolutely someone watching over that child today,” he said. Calhoun and Hallgrimson removed the child’s wet clothing and wrapped her in the chief’s shirt to keep the baby warm. Then, first responders arrived to rush her to a hospital. Later, hospital officials said the girl was in good condition and was stable with her condition improving, the Star reported. “The news came down through the chain and there was a huge sigh of relief,” Fordham said. Zicarelli was charged with first-degree domestic assault, the Star reported. It’s not clear if he will face more serious charges. Zicarelli allegedly told investigators he wanted to kill his daughter for the past day due to “bad thoughts,” saying he was stressed during the holidays and wanted to make things easier for his wife. The man said he went to the water three times to make sure it was possible to sink the child beneath the surface. Then he went to the police department to confess. Epoch Times reporter Jack Phillips contributed to this report.<doc-sep>At one point a co-worker noticed blood on the floor of the stall Lockner was in. She blamed it on a “heavy period.” Another co-worker went to check on the woman and looked over the stall to see Lockner holding the baby she’d just given birth to face down in the toilet.<doc-sep>
In addition to probation, Sarah Lockner must complete a series of parenting classes Woman Accused of Trying to Drown Newborn in McDonald’s Toilet Will Serve No Additional Jail Time A California woman accused of trying to drown a baby in a McDonald’s toilet moments after giving birth to the child in 2017 will avoid prison, thanks to a plea deal with prosecutors. PEOPLE confirms Sarah Jane Lockner, 27, accepted the plea deal earlier this year, but was sentenced last week to four years supervised probation. Lockner was initially charged with attempted murder, a San Mateo County District Attorney’s Office spokesman tells PEOPLE. But that charge was dropped once she pleaded no contest to a single felony child endangerment count back in January. On Friday, Lockner was further sentenced to a year in jail, says the spokesman. But she walked out of court moments later, having received credit for time she’d already served. She must also complete a series of parenting classes. Lockner was working as a cashier in a California McDonald’s when she gave birth inside a bathroom stall. Investigators arrested her after learning she’d allegedly tried to flush the newborn baby down the toilet. Lockner, who’d complained to coworkers of stomach pain, was in and out of the bathroom, according to Redwood City Police. A coworker told officers she went into the bathroom to check on Lockner and saw blood on the floor. Lockner dismissed their concerns, claiming she was having a “heavy period.” • Want to keep up with the latest crime coverage? Click here to get breaking crime news, ongoing trial coverage and details of intriguing unsolved cases in the True Crime Newsletter. According to prosecutors, another coworker told detectives that she looked over the stall and saw a newborn baby face down in the toilet bowl. Lockner’s hand, the coworker said, was on the baby’s back. The baby was rushed to a nearby hospital after first responders were able to resuscitate him.