Posted on 10/16/2005 1:21:23 PM PDT by wagglebee
It's been three years since Terry Ashcraft of Billings last spoke to his daughter, the 21-year-old University of Southern California student accused of leaving her newborn son to die in an alley behind a popular bar in Los Angeles.
So Ashcraft was as shocked as anyone when he learned of the allegations against Holly Ashcraft - a pretty honor roll graduate of West High who reportedly attended USC on a full scholarship.
“If I could say something that would enlighten things, I would do that,” Terry Ashcraft said outside his home Friday. “All I can really say about it is this: I love her. She's one hell of a good kid, and I'm puzzled. I don't understand it.”
Police in Los Angeles say Holly Ashcraft was arrested Wednesday, three days after an anonymous tipster called 911 to report finding the newborn in an alley behind a bar popular with USC students. When officers arrived, they found the child's body lying in a cardboard box next to a trash bin. The boy's umbilical cord was still attached, suggesting a medically unattended birth.
Ashcraft was charged with murder and a felony count of child abuse. If convicted, she would face 25 years to life in prison.
On Thursday, a Los Angeles Superior Court judge raised her bail from $1 million to $2 million, upholding a request by prosecutors who described her as a flight risk.
Jane Robison, a spokeswoman for the Los Angeles District Attorney's Office, and police spokesman Officer Jason Lee declined to disclose how police tied Ashcraft to the birth. But police told the owner of the building where the bar was located - and where Ashcraft lived in a second-floor apartment - that she was linked to the case after seeking medical treatment, according to the Los Angeles Times.
The Times also reported that Ashcraft was a full-time student in her third year. She was suspended pending the outcome of the criminal case, the newspaper said.
Ashcraft was scheduled to appear for arraignment Nov. 9.
An attorney representing Ashcraft said people shouldn't rush to judgment.
“A lot of information is yet to come,” Paul Wallin, of the criminal defense firm Wallin and Klarich, said in a telephone interview Friday afternoon. “We're hoping the ultimate result will be a positive one for our client.
Results of an autopsy performed on the child this week will not be available for at least a month, though police said the child was born full-term and alive.
A California law allows mothers to surrender newborns to hospital emergency rooms and some fire stations with no questions asked and no legal repercussions. Montana has a similar law allowing a parent to surrender a newborn baby to emergency services providers, such as hospitals, fire departments or law enforcement agencies. The child is then put up for adoption.
Terry Ashcraft was separated from Holly's mother for some time before they divorced in 2000 or 2001. It's been years since he lived under the same roof with his daughter, whom he described as “very bright, athletic and very upbeat.”
He did not know whether his daughter was pregnant and said he hasn't heard from Holly or her mother, who lives in Washington state, since Holly's arrest. What little he knows about the case has come from monitoring media reports, he said.
“There's so much confusion right now,” Terry Ashcraft said. “I'm confused; there's confusion in Southern California. There's so much going on down there that I don't know about that I just don't want to comment.”
Terry Ashcraft said his home telephone and cell phone had been ringing off the hook on Thursday and Friday, mostly from concerned relatives and friends. He would not be able to visit his daughter for at least two weeks, he said.
Wallin said he had more than 35 media inquiries about the case Friday, including calls from People and Time magazines, “Good Morning America” and “Today.” But Wallin said family members who have come to Southern California to support Ashcraft won't be doing any interviews.
“Everyone should be respectful,” Wallin said. “She has the support of her entire family.”
Wallin and partner Steve Klarich will team up for Ashcraft's defense. The firm has offices across Southern California and has been in business since 1981. Wallin said he has provided legal analysis on MSNBC during high-profile trials, including the recent Michael Jackson trial.
I think the fault is more in the family and friends around her than "society at large"..
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Balderdash! The fault is with the woman herself.
As for your "loss of blood" angle. It doesn't wash. All sorts of hormones kick it at birth that give the mother a great deal of mental control.
I suspect that you are not a woman and/or have never given birth.
Was she too stupid to call 911? NO. She wanted to be able to get rid of the baby without anyone noticing.
If she had wanted to get rid of the baby, abortion would have been a far easier option, far less pain and sickness, and no legal hassles. Going through with a pregnancy is not a way NOT to get noticed. There is a lot more to this story than "This woman is an evil, selfish witch."
Why don't you tell that to the TWO human beings she murdered?
True, but consider: just who was it said that he hadn't seen her in 3 years?
What about the dick or dicks who got her pregnant? Where are they??? They sure as hell didnt come forward to help Holly. Why doesnt anybody is this forum even mention them??? Why isnt there a hue and cry to go out and find them and slam their asses to the ground. It was their dicks that fired the bullets that put Holly in this mess. You can sure as hell bet that they will never climb out from under their rocks and show their faces. They are the real sick miserable excuses for human beings in this whole mess.
What about the dick or dicks who got her pregnant? Where are they??? They sure as hell didnt come forward to help Holly. Why doesnt anybody is this forum even mention them??? Why isnt there a hue and cry to go out and find them and slam their asses to the ground. It was their dicks that fired the bullets that put Holly in this mess. You can sure as hell bet that they will never climb out from under their rocks and show their faces. They are the real sick miserable excuses for human beings in this whole mess.
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Norm
What about the dick or dicks who got her pregnant? Where are they??? They sure as hell didnt come forward to help Holly. Why doesnt anybody is this forum even mention them??? Why isnt there a hue and cry to go out and find them and slam their asses to the ground. It was their dicks that fired the bullets that put Holly in this mess. You can sure as hell bet that they will never climb out from under their rocks and show their faces. They are the real sick miserable excuses for human beings in this whole mess.
.
Norm
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