No jail time, parenting classes ordered for California mom for holding baby in McDonald's toilet
REDWOOD CITY, Calif. - A 27-year-old Redwood City woman won’t serve any time in prison for holding her newborn baby facedown in a toilet moments after giving birth at a McDonald’s restaurant restroom, prosecutors said.
San Mateo County Superior Court Judge Stephanie Garratt placed Sarah Jane Lockner on four years of supervised probation during a court hearing on Friday, the Mercury News reported. Lockner was also ordered to complete parenting classes.
Lockner was originally charged with attempted murder, but she pleaded no contest to a lesser charge of felony child endangerment on Jan. 14 after Garratt said she would consider imposing a sentence lighter than the four years she had previously offered.
According to prosecutors, Lockner gave birth to a baby boy while working as a cashier at the McDonald’s on the 100 block of Chestnut Street in Redwood City on Sept. 4, 2017.
During one trip to the bathroom, a co-worker noticed blood on the floor, which Lockner reportedly dismissed as her having a “heavy period,” the Mercury News reported.
A second co-worker who went to check on Locker during another visit looked over the stall and saw a newborn facedown in the toilet, with Lockner’s hand on his back, prosecutors said. As the coworker stepped down, she told investigators she heard the toilet flush.