Woodside Woman Dumped Child In The Trash
A Woodside woman is spending the next decade behind bars for dumping her newborn baby in a restroom trash can at Elmhurst Hospital Center in May 2011, causing injuries which later claimed the infant’s life, law enforcement sources said.
Dawa Lama, 24, of 65th Street ordered by Queens Criminal Court Judge Elisa Koenderman at a sentencing hearing on Monday, May 14, to serve 10 years in prison for her guilty plea in April to a first-degree manslaughter charge related to the death of her baby, later named Mingmar Gurung.
“Today’s sentence brings to a close a troubling case of a mother senselessly and needlessly killing her newborn infant,” Queens District Attorney Richard A. Brown said in a statement on Monday. “This case should serve as a reminder that, under New York’s Safe Haven law, a parent may anonymously surrender an unwanted newborn infant to personnel in a safe place-such as a hospital, a police station or a fire station-without repercussions.”
According to law enforcement sources, Lama admitted to visiting Elmhurst Hospital Center on May 10, 2011 to register for prenatal care. After signing in at the front desk, it was reported, she experienced back and abdominal pain and went to a restroom.
While inside the lavatory, police said Lama went into labor and gave birth to Gurung; Brown noted that the child was born alive and in full-term with no obvious signs of deformities.
After severing the umbilical cord, it was reported, Lama dumped the infant into a trash can and left the restroom. She then retrieved her identification from the front desk and fled from the hospital.
Staff members at the medical center later discovered the newborn and contacted the 110th Precinct. After receiving preliminary care at Elmhurst Hospital, Gurung was brought to Long Island Jewish Medical Center. She was placed on life support and died a week later.
Lama was apprehended later on May 10, 2011 by members of the 110th Precinct Detective Squad.
The case was prosecuted by Senior
Assistant District Attorney Dianna L. Megias of the D.A.’s Special Victims Bureau, which is supervised by Assistant District Attorneys Marjory D. Fisher, bureau chief, and Kenneth M. Appelbaum and Lucinda C. Suarez, deputy bureau chiefs.
