A New Mexico teen facing murder charges in connection with the death of her newborn has filed a lawsuit against an Eddy County hospital and several members of its medical staff.
The lawsuit, filed in San Miguel County by Trevizo’s attorney, Arthur Bustos, states that the plaintiff is suing Artemis General Hospital, along with an unnamed doctor and “John and Jane Does A through F,” identified only as medical staff working at the hospital.
As CrimeOnline previously reported, Trevizo gave birth at the Artesia General on January 27. Police said she arrived at the hospital with severe back pain and said she felt like she needed to “have a bowel movement” while at cheerleader practice on the previous day.
She then locked herself in a bathroom and stayed there for around 20 minutes. She allegedly didn’t open the door until the staff threatened to open it themselves.
When nurses went into the bathroom, they saw a pile of blood and a newborn boy inside the trashcan.
“A housekeeper was called to clean the large amount of blood inside the restroom. The housekeeper cleaned up the blood first and then went to take the trash can bag out of the trash can and found it to be much heavier than usual,” the arrest affidavit stated.
“The housekeeper said she looked through the trash can and found a tied-up trash can bag underneath other trash.”
The lawsuit indicates that Trevizo arrived at 12:38 a.m. and was given a cocktail of drugs, including Ketorolac, sodium chloride, Ondansetron and morphine. Medical staff then administered blood tests, which showed Trevizo was pregnant.
“The doctor and nurses admit that at 12:51 am they received on their computers the notice of the results of the blood test showing that Alexee was pregnant,” the lawsuit read.
At around 1:39 a.m., according to the lawsuit, Trevizo ran to the bathroom and locked the bathroom door. She later said she told medical staff that she didn’t know she was pregnant and that baby was stillborn.
At 2:38 a.m., the baby was pronounced dead.
An autopsy, according to the lawsuit, indicated that the newborn had morphine and additional medications in his system. A medical examiner determined that the infant had had a hemorrhage that was consistent with hypoxia.
Prosecutors in Eddy County have now charged Trevizo with first-degree murder in connection with the baby’s death.
Alexee Trevizo Wrongful Dea… by Leigh Egan
Following the infant’s death, police arrived at the hospital and questioned Trevizo while wearing bodycams. Her defense team argues in the lawsuit that the hospital should not have allowed police to record the interview with their bodycams, which violated HIPAA laws.
“[Polices] asked questions of Alexee and her mother that are protected by HIPPA [sic] laws and by the New Mexico Constitution, law, rules, statutes and regulations,” the lawsuit states.
Meanwhile, one of Trevizo’s lawyers, Gary Mitchell told DailyMail that Trevino’s name has been smeared with lies, after prosecutors alleged that Trevizo strangled the newborn
“The fact is, she did not kill her baby. The testing [that was done] to determine that she did is so antiquated that it is medieval.”
“There was no strangulation. This is not a murder case,” Mitchell argued, adding that nurses had given her morphine and a “cocktail of drugs” the should have never been given to someone in labor.
“This certainly was the primary cause of death of the baby. Guess what does cause major breathing issues in fetuses? Morphine.”
A toxicology reported indicated that the baby had 0.19 nanograms of morphine in his system, Mitchell said, along with COVID-19 and influenza.
Mitchell reiterated that Trevizo had no idea she was pregnant until she gave birth, despite the prosecution’s argument that she indeed knew she was pregnant and took measures to end the newborn’s life.
Medical malpractice lawyer, Jerry Dugan, however, told Law&Crime’s Sidebar podcast that the defense’s approach to the incident is both “desperate and dangerous.”
“This was 1900s of one billionth of a gram of morphine in this infant system,” Dugan said. “It is absolutely not a deviation from the standard of care in the emergency room to administer morphine to someone who was known to be pregnant.”
“I think jury nullification here could very well result in the jury when they see this photograph of the cheerleading defendant.
“And then to suggest, well, that’s innocent enough because my boyfriend and I go to McDonald’s every day. I can’t conceive of a jury in this country saying, ‘Oh, that’s a reasonable defense.’ The hospital killed this baby. I just think that defense is going nowhere.”
Trevizo’s trial has been set for February 2024. Check back for updates.
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[Feature Photo: Twitter]
