Baby Abandoned At Nursing Home: Mom Charged With Attempted Murder

GLENVIEW, IL — A mother is accused of attempted first-degree murder and child abandonment after police said she left her baby tied inside a garbage bag in a bathroom garbage can for more than two hours last month in Glenview. Verna Tolentino, 40, of the 5800 block of Washington Street, Morton Grove, was arrested Thursday following an investigation into the Jan. 11 incident at the Glenview Terrace Nursing Home.

The baby is still hospitalized and in stable condition, according to a release from the Glenview Police Department.

Tolentino, who was an employee at the nursing home at 1511 Greenwood Road, was taken to Glenbrook Hospital by the Glenview Fire Department at around 12:30 p.m. Jan. 11 after complaining of abdominal pain. Witnesses told police that she had locked herself inside the bathroom prior to requesting the ambulance.

At around 3 p.m., the cleaning staff at Glenview Terrace Nursing Home found a male baby inside a tied bag inside a garbage can inside the bathroom Tolentino had used, according to the release.

Once the baby was found, authorities determined that Tolentino was postpartum and transferred her to Evanston Hospital’s Labor and Delivery Unit.

The charges were approved after a review by the Cook County State’s Attorney Felony Review Unit.

A bond hearing for Tolentino was scheduled for Friday at the Skokie Courthouse.

Illinois's Safe Haven Law establishes safe places where parents can relinquish newborn infants. The purpose of the Safe Haven Law is to prevent babies from being abandoned in places where they may come to harm. Illinois's law allows parents 30 days to physically place the baby into the arms of a staff member at a police station, firehouse or medical facility.

Related: Newborn Baby Found Abandoned In Glenview