Teen convicted of leaving baby in tote

LACKWANNA, N.Y.(WIVB) - A prison cell awaits a Lackawanna teen convicted of throwing her newborn baby in a city garbage tote.

Alicia Zebrun said, "I'm so sorry. I'm really really sorry."

19-year-old Alicia Zebrun sobbed and wiped away tears as she was sentenced to one to three years in state prison for leaving her newborn baby in a shoebox in a garbage tote last fall.

"She tells me that she did not know that she was pregnant," said Robert Convissar, Zebrun's attorney.

Robert Convissar says the ECC student panicked after giving birth in the bathroom of her Lackawanna home last September.

Convissar said, "She washed it. She cleaned it. She dressed it. Things went bad for it. It stopped breathing."

Convissar says Zebrun then put the baby in a shoebox and hours later decided to take the baby to Mercy Hospital. While walking there, she left it in a garbage tote.

Zebrun's attorney says that his clients hopes this case will raise awareness of an option that she didn't use. The Safe Haven Law where a mother can drop her newborn off at a safe place like a fire station, police station or hospital, without fear of prosecution.

"That's the story that Alicia wants to come out of this, that there's help for girls in that tragic situation," said Convissar.

Given the time she's already served, she could go before a parole board in the next few months. Some find that disturbing. But her attorney finds it fair.

"The regrets that she feels for that loss will outlast any punishment that may be imposed," said Convissar.