Tulsa Mother Arrested, Accused Of Child Neglect; Family Claims Miscommunication Over Safe Haven Law

A Tulsa woman is speaking out about her daughter's recent child neglect arrest.

Christine Zickefoose is accused of abandoning her drug-exposed newborn baby at a Tulsa hospital. The baby was put on life support immediately but died just days later.

Zickefoose’s mother says there’s more to the story. Kristy Zickefoose says her daughter Christine is not innocent, but she says they were under the impression Christine had signed all the paperwork to surrender the baby through the Safe Haven law. She says Christine never wanted the baby, but says the baby wasn't abandoned.

"You know, it was just a baby, she got pregnant, she didn't want it. You know, she didn't want to be where she was at,” said Kristy.

Kristy says her daughter Christine is not a bad person; she just fell on hard times and was in a bad situation. Christine planned to have her baby at home and then leave the baby at a fire station.

Investigators say Christine started bleeding at home and had to go to the hospital where she had a C-section. The newborn had no sign of brain activity and immediately went on life support. Christine left the hospital a couple of days later and the baby's cord blood tested positive for meth and other drugs, and he died.

"She didn't abandon the baby. As far as we knew she had completed all of the paperwork, and everything was okay, so she came on home,” said Kristy.

She says her daughter thought she signed paperwork for the Safe Haven law that allows mothers to surrender their babies without being prosecuted. She says Christine wanted to get an abortion but wasn't able to because of Oklahoma's stricter laws. Court documents say a social worker called Christine about paperwork and Christine said she wasn't going back to the hospital and said, "I'm worried that I will go to jail because of doing drugs while pregnant."

"If she hadn't completed the right paperwork or whatever, why wouldn't they have let her know that before she left the hospital? I'm not saying she's innocent, I'm just saying she doesn't deserve all this, all by herself,” said Kristy.

Investigators say Christine is not charged with child neglect for leaving the baby at the hospital, she's charged with child neglect for doing meth while pregnant and not getting any prenatal care. She's still in the Tulsa County jail on a $15,000 bond.

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