Fetus in Gift Box under Christmas Tree

Prepare to be shocked and saddened by the crime allegedly committed by Ruby Lee Medina and her boyfriend Javier Gonzalez:

SAN JUAN, Texas (AP) -- A south Texas couple put an aborted 7-month-old fetus in a gift box under a Christmas tree after they were unable to flush the remains down a toilet, authorities alleged Monday.

Ruby Lee Medina, 31, and Javier Gonzalez, 37, of Mission, have been charged with abuse of a corpse and tampering with evidence. Bond was set Monday at $20,000 each.

...San Juan Police Chief Juan Gonzalez said police found the fetus inside the woman's trailer home Thursday after getting an anonymous tip.

Autopsy results are pending, but Gonzalez said police believe the woman used pills to induce an abortion Thursday, then called an ambulance after she began bleeding and told doctors she didn't know where the fetus was.

The police chief said the couple tried to flush the fetus down the toilet, but that didn't work.

"Apparently they cleaned up the fetus and they placed it inside a gift box under the Christmas tree," the police chief said.

Marina Perez, the baby's grandmother and mother of Ruby Medina, claims the death was an accident.

From KRGV:

A Valley mother speaks out about the loss of her grandson, and the arrest of her daughter.

...An investigator went to Medina's home and found a fetus wrapped in a gift box.

Marina Perez, Medina’s mother, says it was an accident.

She says her daughter was taking pill for her heartburn.

Instead, the medication forced her to go into labor.

Perez says "The doctor from the hospital said those pills are for abortions here but she was taking them for heartburn.”

Video.


What Ruby Medina and her boyfriend Javier Gonzalez are alleged to have done is so gruesome.

Taking the lifeless body of their child, a 7-month-old fetus, putting it in a gift box, and then, according to some reports, placing it under the Christmas tree, is like something out of a horror movie.

There's no way that what they did with their dead baby was an accident. They showed no respect whatsoever for his life.

Here are more details from LifeNews:

Police official told the Associated Press they found the baby's remains last Thursday after getting a tip, San Juan Police Chief Juan Gonzalez said.

A detective investigating the case went to the couple's mobile home and found blood throughout the place.

Gonzalez says Medina reportedly used pills to cause an abortion. The mifepristone abortion drug was made to be used at approximately seven weeks into pregnancy to kill an unborn child, but the second part of the two-drug process, misoprostol, can be used to cause contractions.

It is an anti-ulcer drug that is not meant for pregnancy or abortion purposes.

...The couple said they eventually had planned to bury the baby's body in their backyard but police found them out first. They voluntarily surrendered to officials.

"Apparently they cleaned up the fetus and they placed it inside a gift box under the Christmas tree," the police chief said.

Medina’s mother, Marina Perez, was surprised by the news and said the couple had already planned to name her grandson Noel.

“I don't understand what happened,” she told the McAllen Monitor newspaper.

Perez confirmed to the Monitor newspaper that Medina used the anti-ulcer drug, which she obtained from friends who reside in Reynosa, Mexico, was used for the self-induced abortion.

She says the drugs caused Medina to go into labor to deliver the baby, whose remains were cremated at an area morgue on Monday.

...Medina has four other child, who are reportedly staying with their grandmother, and police told KRGV that they suspect Medina has engaged in a self-abortion in a similar manner as this one once before. They also suspect she was using illegal drugs at the time.

“Information has surfaced to that fact that she might have consumed some type of controlled substance,” Gonzalez said.

The Monitor indicates they could eventually face capital murder charges pending autopsy results. if so, the corpse abuse charge, which could result in fines and a year in prison, could be upped to a charge that could result in the death penalty.

Pending autopsy results on baby Noel, it's possible that Medina and Gonzalez could face capital murder charges which could result in the death penalty.

How can that be?

Wasn't this just an abortion?

Yes, Noel was already 7-months-old and possibly capable of living outside the womb; but even a viable fetus is considered by Obama and Russ Feingold and others to be a candidate for abortion. Feingold believes that babies accidentally born alive during late-term abortions can be left to die. It's up to the mother and doctor to decide.

How could Medina and Gonzalez be charged with murder?

It's Texas. States have restrictions on late-term abortions. States also allow for exceptions, like the physical and/or mental health of the mother, when it comes to late-term abortions.

The parents of baby Noel may have picked the wrong state to make their choice, though I think it's highly unlikely they'll face the death penalty.

However, what they allegedly did with baby Noel's body is not a gray area. I think trying to flush Noel's remains down a toilet and after that failed then putting him in a box under the Christmas tree qualifies as abusing a corpse.

It's so sad to know that though Medina and Gonzalez didn't want their baby, there were people who would have gladly taken Noel to be their son and loved him.