Juana Perez Valencia |
SANTA ANA, Calif. (KTLA) -- An Orange County jury failed to reach a verdict and a judge declared a mistrial Monday in the case of a young mother accused of suffocating her newborn daughter and dumping her in a trash bin.
Superior Court Judge Thomas Goethals declared the mistrial in the case of Juana Perez Valencia, 21, of Anaheim, who faced a first-degree murder charge stemming from her infant girl's death.
Jurors deliberated for more than a day before telling Goethals last week that they could not agree on a verdict. The judge ordered the jury to continue deliberating through Monday, but the extra time yielded the same result.
Valencia is accused of giving birth Dec. 22, 2009 in the restroom of Sombrero's, a Mexican restaurant in Stanton, where she worked as a server. The full-term baby girl was born alive. It weighed 6.3 pounds and was 17-inches-long, according to a news release issued by the Orange County District Attorney's Office.
Prosecutors say Valencia, then 19, smothered the baby immediately after giving birth. She is accused of putting the baby in a plastic bag and placing the body in a dumpster behind the restaurant.
Valencia went to West Anaheim Medical Center the next day seeking treatment. She allegedly claimed she was hurt in a fall and denied giving birth but doctors determined she had given birth to a full-term baby. Hospital staff then alerted Anaheim police, who later sent the case to the Orange County Sheriff's Department.
Valencia faces a maximum sentence of 25 years to life in prison if convicted of the charges against her.
Superior Court Judge Thomas Goethals declared the mistrial in the case of Juana Perez Valencia, 21, of Anaheim, who faced a first-degree murder charge stemming from her infant girl's death.
Jurors deliberated for more than a day before telling Goethals last week that they could not agree on a verdict. The judge ordered the jury to continue deliberating through Monday, but the extra time yielded the same result.
Valencia is accused of giving birth Dec. 22, 2009 in the restroom of Sombrero's, a Mexican restaurant in Stanton, where she worked as a server. The full-term baby girl was born alive. It weighed 6.3 pounds and was 17-inches-long, according to a news release issued by the Orange County District Attorney's Office.
Prosecutors say Valencia, then 19, smothered the baby immediately after giving birth. She is accused of putting the baby in a plastic bag and placing the body in a dumpster behind the restaurant.
Valencia went to West Anaheim Medical Center the next day seeking treatment. She allegedly claimed she was hurt in a fall and denied giving birth but doctors determined she had given birth to a full-term baby. Hospital staff then alerted Anaheim police, who later sent the case to the Orange County Sheriff's Department.
Valencia faces a maximum sentence of 25 years to life in prison if convicted of the charges against her.
