Dennis Eckersley's daughter gets suspended sentence in baby abandonment case

[October 18, 2024]  MANCHESTER, N.H. (AP) — A mother convicted of abandoning her newborn son in the woods in subfreezing temperatures was given a suspended sentence Thursday, provided she continues to maintain contact with mental health providers.

Alexandra Eckersley, 27, the daughter of Hall of Fame pitcher Dennis Eckersley, received separate sentences of 12 months and six months on different charges, both of which were suspended by the court, allowing her to return home.

Prosecutors had asked for at least a year in jail followed by probation. The defense asked for a six-month suspended sentence and that Eckersley continue to comply with doctors’ mental health recommendations.

Judge Amy Messer said sentencing Eckersley to jail would create a significant likelihood of derailing the gains and stability she has achieved since her arrest.

Eckersley did not address the court.

“Ms. Eckersley, I have to tell you whatever your motivation, whether it’s your son or whether it’s avoiding a period of incarceration it’s going to be critically important that you continue on the path that you’re on. I expect that if you do so you will be successful,” Messer said.

The sentences were set to begin Thursday and end in three years provided Eckersley continues with mental health services. She was due back in court on Nov. 14.

The charges Eckersley was convicted of — falsifying physical evidence, endangering the welfare of a child, and reckless conduct — would normally call for a four-to-eight-year jail term. The jury acquitted her of two assault charges.

Alexander Gatzoulis, assistant county attorney, acknowledged Eckersley admitted her actions at trial and has worked to turn her life around.

“On the other hand, Ms. Eckersley's conduct was troubling and very nearly resulted in the unthinkable,” he said. “Ms. Eckersley did not lie or mislead first responders just once. She did so repeatedly for close to an hour about something so significant as concealing the location of a newborn child.”

Her lawyers have said Eckersley, diagnosed with mental health and developmental issues since childhood, didn’t know she was pregnant and was suffering a medical emergency. They said she has been sober since her arrest, regularly attends therapy, and has been living with her son and her mother in Massachusetts since earlier this year.

Her mother, Nancy Eckersley, asked the court for leniency, saying that for the first time in her life her daughter has found happiness, a clear sense of purpose and fulfillment through her son Teddy.

“Finally at 27, Ally is thriving, Teddy is thriving, heck even I’m thriving because I have my daughter home. I finally have her living with me and the three of us live in what I can only describe as bliss," Nancy Eckersley said.

Alexandra Eckersley, who was convicted on charges that she abandoned her newborn in the woods, hugs her mother, Nancy Eckersley, after her sentence was suspended at a hearing at Hillsborough County Superior Court in Manchester, N.H., on Thursday, Oct. 17, 2024. (David Lane/Union Leader via AP, Pool)

Eckersley left home when she was about 20 to meet up with a man she had met online, her lawyers said. She did not receive mental health treatment for years. She was homeless and living in a tent in Manchester, New Hampshire, when she gave birth on Christmas night 2022, at age 25.

She had testified during her trial in July that she thought her son had died after she gave birth. Prosecutors said her son, who survived, was left alone for more than an hour, suffering from respiratory distress and hypothermia as temperatures dipped to 15 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 9.4 degrees Celsius).

Prosecutors said Eckersley concealed her son’s location, deliberately leading first responders in a different direction because she didn’t want to get into trouble. She eventually told them that she had heard the baby cry.

Her lawyers said she called 911 and led them to the baby. They said police did not listen to her at first.

Eckersley’s lawyers said a man who was with her in the tent told her that the baby did not have a pulse. The couple had no cellphone service to call for help and started walking toward an ice arena. On their way, Eckersley experienced afterbirth but thought she had a second child. She told a 911 dispatcher that she had given birth to two children, one who died immediately and the other who lived for less than a minute.

The man, who was arrested along with Eckersley, was sentenced last August to a year in jail after pleading guilty to a child endangerment charge.

The Eckersley family released a statement shortly after she was arrested, saying they had no prior knowledge of her pregnancy and were in complete shock. The family said she has suffered from “severe mental illness her entire life” and that they did their very best to get her help and support.

Dennis Eckersley, who attended part of his daughter’s trial, was drafted by Cleveland out of high school in 1972 and went on to pitch 24 seasons for Cleveland, Boston, Chicago, Oakland and St. Louis. He won the AL Cy Young and MVP awards in 1992 while playing for the Oakland Athletics. After his playing days, Eckersley broadcast Boston Red Sox games, retiring in 2022.

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