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Attorney: Fear Of Jehovah Witness Family Drove OC Mom To Drown Baby

SANTA ANA (CBS) — A young Fullerton mom is headed to prison on Friday for drowning her newborn baby in a toilet.

KNX 1070's Mike Landa reports Yanira Valderrama, 21, was sentenced to five years in prison after pleading guilty to charges of child abuse and inflicting great bodily injury.

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Valderrama was reportedly embarrassed by her pregnancy and attempted to conceal it from her Jehovah Witness family, a deputy public defender said.

Orange County prosecutor Steve McGreevy said Valderrama's baby boy drowned when she gave birth into a bathroom toilet on Sept. 4, 2009.

"There was a lot of bleeding and shock, and she unfortunately didn't act well and left the baby underwater for an extended period of time so that the baby could never get oxygen," said McGreevy.

She eventually removed the baby from the toilet, wrapped his lifeless body, and put the baby in a wastebasket in her bedroom, McGreevy said.

Later that night, the defendant's mother saw blood in the bathroom, found the discarded placenta and called police, who found the newborn in the trash can.

Valderrama was taken to a hospital, where doctors confirmed she had just given birth, according to prosecutors.

(©2011 CBS Local Media, a division of CBS Radio Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Wire services contributed to this report.)

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