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Doctor: Baby born in jail cell has small chance of survival

The doctor told her the infant she named Cashh has a one to two percent chance of survival.

It was a painful, emotional rollercoaster on Thursday for Shaye Bear, a mother who gave birth alone inside an Ellis County jail cell one week ago.

There was the joy of getting out of jail and knowing she would soon see the baby boy she named Cashh.

"He needs me as much as I need him," Bear told WFAA. "I'm gonna tell him I love him."

Bear's joy was cut short by a phone call from her baby's doctor. The doctor told her the infant she named Cashh has a one to two percent chance of survival.

The doctor told Bear that Cashh will have profound brain damage if he survives. He is currently in the intensive care unit at Cook's Children Medical Center.

Cashh was born one week ago. He was four months premature and weighed just over a pound. Shaye says she'd been in pain for days and had asked to be taken to the emergency room. She says she screamed and begged for help.

"I was laughed at, made fun of, berated, dehumanized," Bear says. "I was treated like an animal. I was literally told by the guard that they wouldn't do anything until I had my child in that single cell, which is exactly what happened."

The Texas Rangers are investigating the circumstances surrounding Cashh's birth and trying to determine who should be held accountable.

Ellis County Sheriff Charles Edge previously declined to comment other than to defend the medical treatment that Bear received during her stay in jail.

An admitted meth addict, Bear was several months pregnant when she was picked on a drug charge on March 10. She was being held on a $5,000 bond.

Bear says she'd been in pain for several days prior to going into labor.

On the day she gave birth, she says she had repeatedly told jailers that she was in pain and that she thought she was having contractions.

"I'm sorry that stuff happens in other countries, but I have rights," Bear said, sobbing. "I have more than rights. I should have gotten medical attention. My child should have gotten medical attention. I should have been taken seriously.”

After WFAA aired a story Monday about Bear’s situation, a viewer paid her bail on the Ellis County case. She was transferred to Dallas County on Tuesday because prosecutors had sought to revoke her probation on a prior drug charge.

She appeared before District Judge Carter Thompson Thursday morning. He agreed to release her on bond and with several strict conditions including that she be monitored for drug use.

Bear says she grateful to the person who paid her bail in Ellis County and set in motion the events leading to her release.

Bear’s mother, Sherry White, arrived at the Dallas County courthouse just shortly after her daughter’s release. The two women hugged and cried.

She was by her side as Bear heard the unsettling news about Cashh's condition. The news reduced both of them to tears.

She tried to comfort her daughter after the call ended.

"You're gonna get to see him," White told her, both of them sobbing. "You're gonna go pray with him. You'll put your finger in this little hand."

She is angry at the circumstances surrounding her grandson’s birth.

"This should never happen to anyone no matter what the circumstances," she said. “No one deserves that.”

The two women then left Dallas for Fort Worth to see baby Cashh, the first time Bear would see him since she gave birth inside that cell.

“I just want everybody to pray for Cashh,” Bear said. “My child needs me and I need my child.”

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