Tulsa mother arrested and charged with child neglect; Family Alleges Misunderstandings About Safe Haven Law

A Tulsa woman is speaking out about her daughter’s recent arrest on child neglect charges.

Christine Zickefoose is accused of abandoning her drug-addicted newborn at a Tulsa hospital. The baby was immediately placed on life support but died just days later.

Zickefoose’s mother says there’s more to the story. Kristy Zickefoose says her daughter Christine is not innocent, but she says they were under the impression that Christine had signed all the papers to release the baby under the Safe Haven Act. She says Christine never wanted the baby, but says the baby wasn’t abandoned.

“You know, it was just a baby, she got pregnant, she didn’t want it. You know, she didn’t want to be where she was,” Kristy said.

Kristy says her daughter Christine isn’t a bad person; She was just having a hard time and was in a bad situation. Christine planned to deliver her baby at home and then drop him off at a fire station.

According to investigators, Christine began bleeding at home and had to go to the hospital, where she had a cesarean section. The newborn showed no signs of brain activity and was immediately placed on life support. Christine left the hospital a few days later and the baby’s umbilical cord blood tested positive for meth and other drugs, causing the child to die.

“She didn’t abandon the baby. As far as we knew, she had all the paperwork done and everything was fine, so she came home,” Kristy said.

She says her daughter thought she had signed the paperwork for the Safe Haven Act, which allows mothers to give up their babies without being prosecuted. She says Christine wanted to have an abortion, but it wasn’t possible because of Oklahoma’s stricter laws. Court documents say a social worker called Christine about paperwork and told Christine she wouldn’t go back to the hospital, saying, “I’m afraid I’m going to jail because I did drugs while pregnant.”

“If she hadn’t done the proper paperwork or whatever, why wouldn’t they have told her before she left the hospital?” “I’m not saying she’s innocent, I’m just saying she doesn’t deserve any of this all by herself,” Kristy said.

Investigators say Christine is not being charged with child neglect for leaving the baby at the hospital, but rather with child neglect for using meth while pregnant and failing to seek prenatal care. She remains in the Tulsa County Jail on $15,000 bond.

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