ND - Dana Deegan charged in death of newborn, Mandaree, 20 Oct 1998

White Rain · May 19, 2007

BISMARCK, N.D. - A woman who works with a tribal child development program has been charged with killing her newborn son in 1999, then discarding the body inside a suitcase on the Fort Berthold Indian Reservation.
Dana Deegan, 34, was charged with murder in federal court Thursday, and Magistrate Charles Miller ordered her held until a hearing on Tuesday.
According to an affidavit, Deegan told FBI agents she gave birth to the boy, her fourth child, at home but was unable to care for him. The agents said she told them she found the infant dead after she left him alone without food or water for two weeks.
"We believe she understood fully what the consequences of that would be," U.S. Attorney Drew Wrigley said.
Deegan's defense attorney, Bill Schmidt, declined to comment on the case.
The boy's body, dressed in a one-piece sleeper and socks, was wrapped in a blanket and towel and placed in a soft-sided lavender suitcase. A rancher repairing fences spotted the suitcase near a state highway and opened it in November 1999. (more at link)
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/18743049/

Texana · May 19, 2007

How tragic.

It seems to me that what this community needs is more education and options for women who feel that killing their children is their only option. I doubt this woman was doing a good job with that, if she chose to kill her own job.

Knowingly starving a baby to death is horrific.

Didn't anybody miss the child or notice that she wasn't pregnant anymore? What about the other children? Good heavens.

philamena · May 19, 2007

Again, I have no words to say express how I feel about this. What was wrong with this woman? She worked to aide children yet murdered her own flesh and blood and dumped it like a piece of trash. :furious:

White Rain · May 19, 2007

If she was "unable to care for him" she shouldn't have had him in the first place! Or at the very least had him and given him away after his birth...

txsvicki · May 20, 2007

This woman was a case worker for six years and probably made decent money and I'm sure there was enough help for daycare and other things. Now the aunt has to care for the other three children and there's not much help for relatives raising children. I hope the state is one that offers more benefits and the tribe helps out if they are Native Indian.

wildTrose · Dec 11, 2007

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071211/ap_on_re_us/suitcase_baby

BISMARCK, N.D. - Dana Deegan hid her pregnancy from her family, including the father of her three children, for nine months. Then she gave birth to a healthy boy, fed him, dressed him, wrapped him in a blanket and left him to die.

Deegan, 34, of White Shield, admitted Monday that she left the child alone for two weeks immediately after he was born, then put his body in a suitcase and left it in a ditch on the Fort Berthold Indian Reservation. more at link

She needs to be starved for one week, then allowed one day of eating then starved again for a week, a few tmes of dong that then maybe she will feel what that baby went thru!
If she was going to let it die, why not do it quickly? drown it, suffocate it anything other then letting it starve to death....

I really hate to see what this world will be like in another 10 years!

KrisNine · Dec 11, 2007

OMG! This is horrible. What is wrong with people? I cannot understand this cruel act. How very sad. That poor baby.

nappy2 · Dec 11, 2007

How can anybody do this ?

What a monster I cant imagin what this poor baby felt like for those two weeks! This women needs to die in the same way!!!!!!!!:furious: :furious: :furious: :furious:

mama2echo · Dec 11, 2007

i dont understand how she could feed and cloth him, but THEN LEAVE HIM TO DIE?!?!!?!?

Bobbisangel · Dec 11, 2007

Why didn't she drop the baby off at a hospital or fire station? No one would have said anything and the baby could have been given up for adoption. She says that she was under stress when he was born but she didn't tell anyone that she was pregnant for 9 months so I would think that she had this planned from the beginning.

I'm sure that her situation seemed hopless with no work...husband an alcoholic and never home much, etc, but she could have left him and gone on welfare instead of making the choice of letting her poor baby starve to death.
What would have been wrong with adoption? Why chose to let the baby die?
She made a very poor choice and now her three children will be without a mom and God forbid they are turned over to their alcoholic father. Hope some of her family can help with the kids..they are so little.

2sisters · Dec 11, 2007

It would have been more humane to have an abortion, and that's saying alot b/c I am so anti abortion.

JanetElaine · Dec 11, 2007

This little boy was born around the same date as my daughter. That just made me double sick. While I was holding her and being amazed by that little miracle, another equally precious baby was starving to death alone. Excuse me while I go and cry now.

southcitymom · Dec 11, 2007

Such sadness. Prayers for this overwhelmed family.

Filly · Dec 11, 2007

southcitymom said:
Such sadness. Prayers for this overwhelmed family.

Prayers for the entire family is right, SCM. Just unimaginable.

Marie · May 18, 2008

N.D. mom sentenced in 'slow-motion' death of newborn left alone for 2 weeks

A North Dakota woman who left her newborn "Baby Moses" at home without food or water in a basket for two weeks to die a "slow-motion" death has been sentenced to 10 years and one month in prison for second-degree murder.

Dana Deegan, 35, of White Shield in western North Dakota, also was sentenced Monday by U.S. District Chief Judge Daniel L. Hovland in Bismarck to two years of supervised release and ordered to pay $100 to a crime victim's fund.

She said in court Monday that she did not know why she killed her newborn son. "I wish I could explain why I did what I did."

AmandaBrown23 · May 18, 2008

I wonder how her husband feels about it, and how in the world could you hide it for that long!! I couldnt hide it with my third after the 5th month

Belinda · Apr 18, 2010

She pleads guilty to causing her newborn baby boy to die

Deegan says she gave birth to the baby October 20th 1998 in her rural Mandaree home

She put a diaper on him, dressed him and fed him then left for two weeks

She knew her baby would die

(Donnell Preskey) Deegan kept her pregnancy a secret. She didn't tell anyone she was expecting, nor did she get any pre-natal care. She never saw a doctor. She says she never told anyone about it after she gave birth

Much more at link

http://www.kxnet.com/custom404.asp?404;http://www.kxnet.com/t/dana-deegan/188652.asp

Still looking for sentencing data.

zadari · Apr 18, 2010

just goes to show you cant trust anyone really .. you never know whats behind a persons eyes or mouth poor little angel baby what a slow horrific death...

Belinda · Apr 18, 2010

A North Dakota woman who left her newborn "Baby Moses" at home without food or water in a basket for two weeks to die a "slow-motion" death has been sentenced to 10 years and one month in prison for second-degree murder.

Dana Deegan, 35, of White Shield in western North Dakota, also was sentenced Monday by U.S. District Chief Judge Daniel L. Hovland in Bismarck to two years of supervised release and ordered to pay $100 to a crime victim's fund.

http://www.startribune.com/local/18894054.html

Belinda · Apr 18, 2010

O/T - Can anyone tell me if I am doing the right thing here? I have noticed that older cases come up at the bottom of threads and that a lot of the cases didn't have a final disposition in them. I thought it might be helpful if I could post the sentences received in these cases and so have been researching and updating them. Does that just clog up the board or is this wanted information?

ND - Dana Deegan charged in death of newborn, Mandaree, 20 Oct 1998

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