By Stephen Stirling
A Flushing mother accused of abandoning her 3-day-old baby girl faced more criminal charges last week as the Queens district attorney's office revealed in court that the woman had outstanding warrants for bail jumping and prostitution.
Hua Zheng was arraigned on charges of reckless endangerment, child abandonment and endangering the welfare of a child May 14 in Queens Criminal Court after police said she allegedly left her newborn baby girl on the doorstep of her pastor's home without informing him, the DA said. Zheng, 31, was also arraigned on bail jumping, prostitution and three traffic violations stemming from previous arrests in 2007, according to the DA.
Zheng was ordered held on $10,000 bail by Judge Gene Lopez.
Police said the baby was found in a basket next to a bag of diapers and formula inside the doorway of 140-32 Holly Ave. by 24-year-old Queens College student Kristina Yu around 10 p.m. May 11. Yu told the New York Daily News that she had previously baby-sat for Zheng's 4-year-old son and that she had been a member of the congregation at her father's church.
Yu's father, the Rev. Kenny Yu of Livingstone Presbyterian Church in Corona, and Brown said Zheng allegedly tried to leave the baby in her pastor's care. Brown said the state's safe haven laws would have protected Zheng had she informed the pastor she was leaving the child.
The unnamed baby girl has been resting comfortably in stable condition at Flushing Hospital, according to hospital officials, and will be released into the custody of the city Administration for Children's Services once she is cleared medically. She will then likely be placed in foster care.
The additional charges brought against Zheng stemmed from two separate incidents in 2007.
Authorities said Zheng was arrested on Feb. 25, 2007 after being pulled over for allegedly talking on a cell phone.Police said the officers subsequently discovered that Zheng was driving with a suspended license and arrested her. When Zheng failed to show up in court that March, she was charged with bail jumping, according to police.
Zheng was also arrested, according to the DA, on charges of prostitution and unauthorized practice of massage therapy after allegedly offering to perform sexual acts on an undercover police officer during a massage on May 11, 2007.
Lopez ordered Zheng to return to court June 2 to face the felony charges of reckless endangerment and unauthorized practice of a profession and again June 9 on the charges of bail jumping and traffic violations.
Calls to Zheng's attorney, Christopher Whitehair, were not immediately returned.
Reach reporter Stephen Stirling by e-mail at Sstirling@timesledger.com or by phone at 718-229-0300, Ext. 138.
