Nebraska mom who helped daughter, 17, abort baby, burn and bury fetus charged with multiple felonies
After a Nebraska mom reportedly assisted her daughter in having an abortion, burning and burying the fetus, both were charged with felonies. Jessica Burgess of Nebraska allegedly assisted her 17-year-old daughter Celeste Burgess in having the abortion while she was over 6 months into her pregnancy.
The duo has claimed Celeste had a stillborn child inadvertently while she was in the bath. They then put the fetus in a box, burned it, and buried it on a piece of land in the north of Norfolk.
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The event resulted in five charges being filed against Jessica, 41. Celeste has been charged on three counts and is being prosecuted as an adult. Both have entered a not-guilty plea. 22-year-old Tanner Barnhill was accused of assisting the two women in getting rid of the fetus. He will be sentenced later this month after he entered a no contest plea.
When Norfolk police learned that Celeste had aborted and dumped the baby, they opened an inquiry into the Burgess family. Celeste was 23 weeks pregnant at the time of the purported event, with a delivery date of July 3. Investigators were able to get a document of the teen's health records. According to documents acquired by KMTV, Celeste told investigators that she miscarried on April 22 around 12 am. She allegedly put the unborn child in a bag, a box, and then stashed it in the rear of a cargo vehicle after telling her mom what had occurred, according to the police authorities.
The fetus was buried by Jessica and Celeste in a location north of Norfolk that reportedly belonged to Barnhill's parents. The document mentions that Barnhill assisted the two with the crime but it doesn't mention when the burial took place. Jessica and Celeste attempted to burn the baby before dumping it, according to Barnhill, who on April 29 told the police where it was buried. When fetus was excavated, investigators discovered some burn damage.
Officials also found Facebook chats between the mother-daughter duo while conducting their inquiry. The duo allegedly talked about abortion medications. The conversations were exchanged on April 20, which was 2 days before the suspected miscarriage. The chats showed that Jessica provided her daughter with medication usage advice.
According to reports, Celeste said she was eager to have the "thing" removed from her body. Jessica also said they wanted to destroy the evidence (the fetus). In June, both were accused of felony charges related to removing, hiding, or dumping a dead corpse. They were also charged with misdemeanor counts of inaccurate claims and hiding a person's death. A month later, Jessica was charged with two additional offenses by the Madison County attorney: trying to execute an abortion at a gestation of more than 20 weeks and conducting an abortion while not holding a valid medical certificate.
In his 32 years working for the county, prosecutor Joseph Smith claimed that he had never before brought these charges before. In a statement to The Lincoln Journal Star on Friday, Smith said, "I don't think I've ever had a case like this. Usually, abortions are performed in hospitals, and doctors are involved, and it's not the type of stuff that occurred in this case."
According to NTV, Jessica was freed from custody on June 27 after paying a $10,000 bail. On September 2, she is expected in court. Celeste was freed on July 21 after paying a $20,000 bail and will appear in court on August 29.
Currently, abortions are legal in Nebraska for up to 20 weeks after conceiving.
Governor Pete Ricketts, a Republican, has indicated a desire to convene a special meeting to further limit the availability of abortions, stating he would favor a nearly complete ban with zero exceptions for incest or rape. However, the governor claimed that only 30 state senators would back an abortion ban performed beyond 12 weeks in a proclamation released on Monday. To pass the bill, the proposal needs 33 votes. There are 32 Republicans and 17 Democrats in Nebraska's unicameral state legislature.
In a statement, Ricketts said, "It is deeply saddening that only 30 Nebraska state senators are willing to come back to Lincoln this fall in order to protect innocent life. As Governor, I will continue doing whatever I can in my power to affirm the rights of pre-born babies and to support pregnant women, children, and families in need."
Recently, the 1973 Roe v Wade case, that authorized abortion across the US, was overruled by the Supreme Court in June. Rickett's announcement comes as many other Republican-led states have been debating on how far they should go in limiting abortion availability. Since Roe v Wade was overturned, Indiana is the only state to have passed a renewed abortion prohibition. The state's prohibition forbids all abortions unless the mother's life is in jeopardy or the unborn acquires a serious defect, or if the pregnancy is the outcome of rape or incest but is still less than 10 weeks along.