Robin Abcarian: Pregnant drug addicts try our patience and empathy, but they don't belong in prison
by Robin Abcarian, Los Angeles Times
Dec 04, 2019
3 minutes
I had conflicting reactions to the story of Chelsea Becker, the 25-year-old Hanford, Calif., meth addict who delivered a stillborn baby boy in September: revulsion, sadness, pity, sympathy.
An autopsy showed that the baby, Zachariah, had what prosecutors allege were "toxic levels" of methamphetamine in his system. Becker is now in jail on suspicion of murdering him.
My colleague Alexandra Wigglesworth, who reported the story, visited Becker in jail, where she's being held in lieu of $5 million bail.
"I didn't kill my baby," Becker sobbed during their visit.
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