Mom arrested for abandoning baby

A Flushing woman arrested for allegedly leaving her three-day-old daughter on a doorstep of a house on Mother’s Day, had a prior felony warrant and is facing a long stretch in prison.
Hua Zheng, 31, of 45-15 Bowne Street in Flushing reportedly gave birth on Friday, May 9, at New York Hospital Queens Medical Center and left the hospital two days later.
The infant was found at a house at 140-32 Holly Avenue in Flushing that night, wrapped in a blanket, still wearing a hospital ID bracelet. She was taken to Flushing Hospital Medical Center, where doctors said the seven-pound, eight-ounce girl was “doing well.”
According to Queens District Attorney Richard A. Brown, Kristina Yu, 24 was reportedly standing outside the house with a friend at “about 9:40 p.m.” on Sunday and they found the baby and the bag “lodged in between the storm door and the front door” of the house. They alerted her father, Kenny Yu, who called 9-1-1.
Information on the bracelet led to Zheng’s arrest on charges including reckless endangerment and child abandonment. Investigation revealed that she was wanted for bail-jumping on a prior case, and that a warrant had been issued on yet another pending case.
Judge Gene Lopez set bail at $2,500 per case, for a total of $10,000. Zheng has her next day in court on Monday, June 2 for the felony charges and the following Monday, June 9, for the misdemeanors.
New York State Law makes child abandonment a felony, punishable by up to four years in prison. Reckless endangerment is a more serious felony and carries a penalty of seven years in prison.
Under the provisions of the “Safe Haven Law,” a person is innocent of criminal abandonment if, intending to abandon a child of five days old or less, they leave it “with an appropriate person or in a suitable location and promptly notified an appropriate person of the child’s location.”
This is usually taken to mean a firehouse, police station or hospital, but could be a residence of “an appropriate person.” The critical point is notification.
Zheng allegedly admitted “that she left the location without seeing anyone discover or retrieve the baby,” or notify anyone of the baby’s whereabouts, according to the DA.
Zheng was first arrested in February, 2007 when she was stopped for talking on a hand-held phone while driving, and it was discovered she had multiple license suspensions.
Last May, she was arrested for unlicensed practice of “massage therapy,” a felony. After the $60 felonious massage, she allegedly offered to masturbate the undercover cop for an additional $100, leading to the charge of prostitution.