DA reviewing Amber Alert case

Prosecutors from the district attorney’s office are still
considering whether to file charges against the Morgan Hill mother
who left her infant daughter unattended in a vehicle which was
stolen.
Prosecutors from the district attorney’s office are still considering whether to file charges against the Morgan Hill mother who left her infant daughter unattended in a vehicle which was stolen.

Maribel Corona, 24, could face charges of either misdemeanor or felony child endangerment, or prosecutors could decline to file charges, according to supervising deputy Santa Clara County district attorney Steve Lowney.

Corona’s 1-month-old daughter Mariana was found in healthy condition hours after her disappearance sparked a statewide Amber Alert May 31. The child was abandoned in a park in Salinas with the vehicle in which she was last seen, and found by a nurse who was returning to her car after a hike. 

Potential charges against Maribel Corona could relate to her leaving the child unattended in her parked car – which police said is a crime. Corona parked her Infiniti sedan outside the food pantry at St. Catherine Parish on Peak Avenue about 2 p.m. 

She told police she went inside the food pantry to get groceries, and when she exited the building the car, in which she had left her daughter, was gone. She was away from the car for about five minutes before it was stolen, police said. 

Law enforcement agencies from all over the area assisted in the search for the missing infant. Helicopters circled over Morgan Hill for about three hours before the child was found, alone and crying, still strapped into her car seat in Salinas. 

Lowney said his office just received the case files last week, and he was going to review it before sending it to a special investigation unit in the district attorney’s office that specializes in child endangerment crimes. Prosecutors will likely decide whether to file charges against Corona this week. 

Depending on the severity of the charge and whether it is filed as a misdemeanor or felony, Corona could face a fine, probation, jail time or a prison sentence. Police have not arrested or identified anyone in connection to the car theft.