Woman accused of abandoning newborn in tent says she told 911 and police where to find baby

MANCHESTER, NH – Nineteen months ago, Alexandra Eckersley, 27, misdirected emergency workers searching for her newborn son, who she is accused of abandoning in a makeshift tent in temperatures hovering around 15 degrees, because she was afraid she would get in trouble, according to prosecutors.

The defense, however, said Eckersley told the 911 operator and a police officer where the baby could be found – in a tent on the Goffstown side of a trestle bridge off the West Side rail trail.  No one listened to her, Public Defender Jordan Strand told the jury of eight women and six men Thursday morning in her opening statement in Hillsborough County Superior Court North.

Eckersley, 27, was homeless on Dec. 26, 2022, when in the dark and freezing cold she gave birth to a premature son.

Prosecutors contend she abandoned the newborn to seek warmth and get emergency help for herself. She is charged with two counts of second-degree assault, reckless conduct, falsifying physical evidence and endangering the welfare of a child.

It was only after about a 1½-hour search in 15-degree weather in an area about a half-mile away from her campsite that Eckersley, realizing no one was going to give up on finding the newborn, “changed her story and finally told the truth,” Assistant Hillsborough County Attorney Alexander Gatzoulis said in his opening statement.

Rescuers found the infant on the tent floor suffering from hypothermia. Gatzoulis played a video clip, recorded on the body worn camera of Officer William Collins of fellow Officer Joseph Vitale finding the baby.

“Oh, Jesus Christ. It’s here. Yeah, it’s still alive.  It’s still moving,” Vitale is heard saying.  EMTs began CPR on the child and while an ambulance was called to the scene, they opted to take the baby to the hospital via a fire truck that was already there.  En route to Catholic Medical Center, the baby opened its eyes, Gatzoulis said. At Catholic Medical Center, medical personnel determined the baby’s body temperature was 82.5 degrees.

The infant was then transferred to Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center for further treatment.  The child, who Eckersley named Edward Ruth after her grandparents, recovered.  Now 19 months old, he lives with Eckersley and her mother in Massachusetts.

Strand told the jury that that night Eckersley was suffering from a medical emergency. She called 911 for help.

“Allie did not commit a crime,” Strand said.  “She is innocent.”

Eckersley was in shock, frightened, bleeding, crying, cold and confused after unexpectedly giving birth.  Eckersley, who was diagnosed as bi-polar at age 2, was under the impression she couldn’t get pregnant.

All Christmas day, she had had a stomach ache, Brand said. She had taken Pepto Bismol and an over-the-counter pain medication but nothing helped.

“Allie started bleeding,” Strand said.  “Something was very wrong.”  She asked George Theberge, her boyfriend and tent mate who was nearly twice her age, to look. He said it looked like she had a hemorrhoid.  Then, Strand said, she delivered the fetus.

“She never touched it,” the defense attorney said.  “She thought she had miscarried.  Theberge told her there was no pulse.”

Eckersley was bleeding profusely. Everything in the tent was covered in blood.  Brand said they couldn’t get a signal on a cell phone so they walked to the West Side Arena, about a half-mile away. Theberge returned to the tent three times: to get Eckersley’s shoe, to get his phone and to get his tablet and turn off the propane heater.

At the arena, Theberge dialed 911 and handed Eckersley the phone. Eckersley told the dispatcher the “baby was on the other side of the trestle bridge, the Goffstown side.”

When emergency responders arrived, Brand said Theberge grabbed his phone and ran off.  He was on probation, had suspended jail time hanging over his head and a warrant had been issued for his arrest.

When an officer arrived, Brand said she told him where the baby could be found.

Brand said no one was “really listening to her. No one walked across the bridge where she told dispatch the fetus was. Instead, they put a headlamp on Allie’s forehead and followed her around, all while she was bleeding through her clothes, all while she was experiencing everything a person experiences after giving birth,”   Strand said.

Not only did they ignore what she said, Strand told the jury, they made fun of her because she was drenched in blood.  They made comments like this woman “is out of her fucking mind.”

After walking around the area east of where her tent was, Officer William Collins led her back to the ambulance because she needed medical attention. Eckersley, Brand said, thought she had had two miscarriages, mistakenly believing the placenta she discharged on the trail to her tent was a fetus.

Gatzoulis said back in the ambulance for a second time, and knowing emergency workers were not giving up on finding the baby, Eckersley said she would lead them to the tent.  As Collins and other officers followed her, they came across a blood trail and the placenta.

Collins was the first witness to take the stand.  He said when they arrived at the tent, Eckersley asked if she could see the baby.

“I always wanted to be a mom,” she said.

Collins kept Eckersley from going inside the tent.  He said he only had a glance of the infant and saw that it was blue.  He believed the child was dead and told Eckersley that.

It was only later, when Eckersley was interviewed by a detective, that she learned that her infant son had survived.

Strand, in her opening statement, spoke briefly about Eckersley’s mental health condition and said a doctor would be testifying concerning it.  At the age of 2, she said Eckersley was diagnosed with bi-polar disorder.  She was treated with hormones until the age of 12, and for many years lived in group homes and psychiatric hospitals.

At the age of 20, she left a group residence in Massachusetts to live with a man in New Hampshire and ultimately became homeless.  By 2022, she had been homeless for five years without mental health or medical treatment.  She also suffered from substance abuse disorder.

“She was living in a makeshift tent with a man twice her age,” Brand said.

Eckersley is the adopted daughter of Hall of Fame pitcher Dennis Eckersley.  He was not in the courtroom but her mother and other relatives and friends filled a bench in the spectator gallery.  During breaks in the trial, Eckersley talked with them and exchanged hugs.

Prior to Collins taking the stand, the jury was taken on a view of the West Side Arena and the rail trail.  They crossed the trestle bridge and viewed the path that led to Eckersley’s campsite.  It was about a half-mile from the arena.

Last year, Theberge was sentenced to 1½ years in prison on several charges, including endangering the welfare of a child.  He is expected to be one of the witnesses.

The trial will continue Friday and is expected to last a total of five days.