A teen mother convicted of killing her newborn son and later giving birth to another boy has sued Marian Regional Medical Center for notifying social services workers about the second child.
A civil lawsuit filed in Santa Maria Superior Court on behalf of Maribel Sanchez and Eduardo Chavez named the medical center and dozens of unnamed individuals as defendants, according to court documents filed in February.
The lawsuit claims that Marian representatives violated the Confidentiality of the Medical Information Act, a state law that protects patients’ private health-care information.
Sanchez and Chavez are the parents of a boy born at the Santa Maria hospital on Feb. 27, 2021.
A nurse apparently notified social workers about the birth, leading to the child being removed from the couple’s custody temporarily.
“The nurse employee had no reason to believe that plaintiffs’ newborn child was in danger of being harmed or would otherwise not be cared for,” the civil complaint filed by Santa Barbara attorney Eric Woosley stated. “Plaintiffs’ newborn child was in fact not in danger of being harmed, or otherwise not cared for, as evidenced by the fact that (the baby) was eventually returned to them, albeit eight months later.”
Nurses along with other medical staff are considered mandated reporters required to report known or suspected cases of child abuse or neglect. It’s not known whether that prompted the call to the authorities.
One California facility has told employees, “If you suspect, report.”
The law establishing mandated reporters also includes safeguards from civil and criminal liability.
The new civil complaint incorrectly states that Sanchez gave birth to her first baby in 2015, although it was actually January 2016.
The girl, then 15, showed up at the Marian hospital, without the baby. Medical staff determined she had given birth and notified Santa Maria police. Police officers later found the dead baby boy in a plastic bag stuffed behind shoes in the bathroom vanity in the girl’s family’s apartment.
The baby had knife wounds, including one across its throat.
An autopsy later revealed that the baby was alive at birth, and authorities concluded the death was a homicide.
A juvenile court judge found the girl guilty of second-degree murder for killing the baby boy minutes after giving birth in her family’s home on Jan. 17, 2016.
The judge also determined the allegation that she used a deadly weapon — identified as a broccoli knife during the trial — to be true.
That child was given the same name as their second boy.
At the time of her trial, Sanchez was identified in court only as Maribel S. because she was a minor.
After Sanchez gave birth to her second child last year, county officials temporarily removed the infant from the parents’ custody, leading to a contested hearing at which a judge ordered the baby’s removal.
In the ruling, the juvenile court judge stated: “The circumstances of the prior murder are just too concerning to have no concern about the safety of the child.”
During the custody hearing, a social worker testified that she received a hotline referral that the baby’s mother attempted suicide in 2018.
“The juvenile court then found by clear and convincing evidence that A.S. would be at substantial risk of harm if returned to his parents, and there were no reasonable means to protect him without removal,” the appellate opinion stated. “The court removed A.S. from mother’s and father’s custody and placed him with the maternal grandparents.”
However, the court also ordered supervised visits and family reunification services for the baby’s mother and father.
The appellate court supported the child’s temporary removal from the parents’ custody, according to an opinion filed Dec. 22.
In the appeal, the father had challenged the findings, contending insufficient evidence supported removal of the child from his custody.
But the Court of Appeal said the father’s belief that the prior baby’s murder was an accident “presents credible evidence of current risk of harm.”
“The court properly found that father’s lack of appreciation for the circumstances of the baby’s murder and mother’s mental-health problems posed a substantial risk of harm to A.S,” appellate judges ruled.
In the civil lawsuit, the parents have asked for compensatory, statutory and punitive damages above $25,000, along with attorney’s fees for subjecting plaintiffs to “untold emotional distress and mental anguish.”
Marian Regional Medical Center officials declined to comment on the civil litigation.
Civil complaints show only one side of the story, and attorneys for the defendants are expected to a file a response in the coming weeks.
A case management conference is set for July 11 before Santa Maria Judge James Rigali.
— Noozhawk North County editor Janene Scully can be reached at jscully@noozhawk.com. Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk, @NoozhawkNews and @NoozhawkBiz. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.