Woman allegedly tried to flush newborn baby down McDonald's bathroom toilet
REDWOOD CITY, Calif. (KTVU) - A McDonald's cashier is accused of trying to flush her newborn baby down the toilet after giving birth on the job. The baby survived yet his future prognosis is unknown.
25-year-old Sarah Lockner is accused of trying to kill her newborn child at a McDonald’s in Redwood City.
According to court documents, it happened on Labor Day. Lockner complained of stomach pains and headed to a bathroom stall. Coworkers went to check on her. One of them saw a pile of blood on the floor and then a baby's face.
“There was a newborn baby boy in the toilet water,” said San Mateo County District Attorney Stephen Wagstaffe. “He had her hand on the baby boy's back pushing it into the water in an effort to kill it.”
Prosecutors said Lockner delivered that baby herself. Coworkers called police who performed CPR. The baby boy was rushed to Lucille Packard Children’s Hospital at Stanford put in a medically induced coma.
“We were told chances of survival were not strong,” said Wagstaffe. “Somehow with the grace of God people there were able to help the baby and the baby boy is now conscious and it looks like he will survive.”
Wagstaffe calling the crime heartless and soulless, a case that's left him and others mystified.
“It’s hard enough to have a baby in a stall at a McDonald's but then want to end his life,” said Wagstaffe. “It's something nobody can understand.”
Customers at the McDonald’s in Redwood City are trying to wrap their head around it.
“Just incomprehensible sadness you don't know what someone is thinking,” said Bill Norton of Palo Alto. “You just want to reach out to the baby and to the mother.”
“It’s unfortunate,” said Malai Latu of Menlo Park. “I can't imagine just the thought of it. I just can't believe someone would do that.”
No one answered the door when KTVU went to Lockner’s house. Neighbors had plenty to say about their shock. The district attorney’s office and neighbors said she had another young child.
“I had no issues with her,” said Neighbor Nathan Naidu. “I see her all the time with her kid. She's always walking around with her baby going around to the park. She’s pretty nice.”
“I still can't believe it,” said Neighbor Miguel Contreras. “I don't think she did that. She's always with the baby walking around, playing around, playing with my daughters.”
Lockner has no prior criminal history in San Mateo County. Prosecutors are now looking at finding the father. She lived with a boyfriend who told the District Attorney’s office he didn't know she was pregnant.
The District Attorney is grateful the case didn't turn into a homicide and are crediting the coworkers at McDonald's and first responders for saving the baby's life.
Lockner is being held at the Maples Correctional Center on an $11 million bail. She’s due back in court next Monday.