John Jefferson
Inset: Alexandra Eckersley following her sentencing hearing (WMUR). Background: The area where Eckersley abandoned her newborn baby (WMUR).
The 27-year-old adopted daughter of a Major League Baseball legend accused of abandoning her newborn child in the freezing woods and intentionally misleading authorities regarding the child’s whereabouts will not be going to jail.
New Hampshire Superior Court Judge Amy Messer on Thursday ordered Alexandra Eckersley, the adopted daughter of first-ballot Hall of Fame pitcher Dennis Eckersley, to serve sentences of 12 months and six months for convictions on two charges. However, Messer also suspended both sentences, provided Eckersley continues to receive mental health and substance abuse treatment while also having regular check-ins with the court.
A jury in August convicted Eckersley on one count each of endangering the welfare of a child, reckless conduct, and falsifying physical evidence in connection with crime and attempted cover-up. She was found not guilty on two counts of assault.
Messer handed down 12 months on the falsifying evidence charge and six months on the child endangerment charge, suspending both for three years in what the court said offered Eckersley the best chance at continuing the progress she’s made since her initial arrest.
“It’s critically important that you continue on the path that you are on,” Messer said in courtroom footage posted by Manchester ABC affiliate WMUR. “I suspect that if you do so, you will be successful.”
Eckersley’s boyfriend at the time, 45-year-old George Theberge, last year pleaded guilty to child endangerment in connection with Eckersley’s alleged abandonment of the newborn in the woods shortly after giving birth. He was subsequently sentenced to one year behind bars.
Prior to Messer handing down the sentence, prosecutors requested that Eckersley be sentenced to at least one year in prison for intentionally misleading first responders as to the health and location of her newborn baby.
“The state’s recommendation before the court today is significant, but warranted,” Assistant Hillsborough County Attorney Alex Gatzoulis told the court. “The facts of this case presented for the jury at trial show that Ms. Eckersley knew what she was doing and had the presence of mind to misdirect first responders.”
Eckersley’s defense attorney, Kim Kossick, sought a fully suspended sentence, saying that all her client wanted was to “live a regular life as (her child’s) mother.” Eckersley currently has custody of the child and is living with her mother in Massachusetts.
As Law&Crime previously reported, officers with the Manchester Police Department at approximately 12:40 a.m. on Dec. 26, 2022, responded to the West Side Ice Arena regarding a 911 call from a woman — later identified as Eckersley — who had just given birth to a child in the woods in the surrounding area. The temperature in the area was below 20 degrees.
Manchester Police and Fire and personnel with American Medical Response were dispatched to the area where they made contact with Eckersley, who told them where they should search for the child. However, authorities were unable to locate the child, police said.
“After nearly an hour, the mother revealed the true location of the baby and led officers to the area,” the release states. “There, officers located the baby who was treated by EMT’s and transported to a local hospital for treatment.”
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