A Mountain View woman faces murder and child abuse charges in the death of her newborn son after police said he was found "discarded" outside her home.
Jennifer Tupper, 31, was arrested Wednesday after being discharged from a local hospital. Mountain View police had taken her there after responding to the 2000 block of Leghorn St. following a call from a friend of hers Monday afternoon, claiming Tupper had given birth to a stillborn.
Tupper was at her home when responders arrived, and police said in a release Thursday that the Mountain View Fire Department confirmed the child was dead upon their arrival. Following Santa Clara County’s protocol on child abuse, a subsequent Santa Clara County Coroner investigation indicated the boy was born, alive, on Aug. 2 before sustaining “significant injuries.”
Police arrested Tupper on charges of murder and child abuse resulting in great bodily injury or death. The case remains under active investigation.
"This is a tragic case for our community," Mountain View Police Chief Chris Hsiung said in a statement. "We are devastated by this news, and we are grieving with the community on the loss of this baby's life."
Tupper was booked Thursday in Santa Clara County jail, and she is being held without bail and under supervised custody at a hospital, according to inmate records. She is scheduled to be arraigned at the Santa Clara County Hall of Justice in San Jose at 1:35 p.m. on Friday.
Mountain View residents can safely surrender a baby at one of the city’s five fire stations, as well as El Camino Hospital on Grant Rd.
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