150 children bring tears

The baby boy was wrapped in bags and tossed into a trash bin at Harrah's Las Vegas nine years ago.

His lifeless body was found among bits of garbage by a refuse company that was separating recyclable items from trash.

Carol Ferranti was working as an investigator for the coroner's office in May 2001 and responded to the call.

When she got to the scene, Ferranti wrapped the small corpse in a white plastic body bag and cradled the dead infant in her arms.

Ferranti gently laid him down before fastening him into the coroner's vehicle for transport with a seat belt.

He had no parents. He had no name.

So he was called "Baby Boy Harrah's" or "Francis," after a local priest who helped with his burial. The child was laid to rest in a baby-blue coffin only slightly larger than a shoebox. His death occurred one day before state legislators considered the Baby Safe Haven law, which protects unwanted newborns like "Baby Boy Harrah's."

Ferranti choked back tears as she recalled the story to religious leaders, county officials and child welfare advocates during a ceremony Wednesday at The Children's Memorial Garden in Bunkers Eden Vale Memorial Park.

The memorial service commemorated 150 children whose lives were cut short.

It was difficult for Ferranti, now a crime prevention specialist for the Metropolitan Police Department, to recount how the baby's body felt that day. She said she remembers too much about the details.

"That day I held you and thought, 'How could anyone have thrown you away?' " Ferranti said. "It has stuck with me since then. No funeral, no burial, no flowers, not even a name. Baby Boy, you deserved better. You changed my life in so many ways. I have never forgotten you."

The group unveiled a light gray marble headstone, donated by Bunkers Mortuary, with engraved names such as "Baby Boy Doe" and "Baby Jane." The dates of death range from the mid-1980s to as recent as last year.

Two teddy bears engraved in the stone sit near the words, "You Are Not Forgotten." Next to the headstone sits a marble Weeping Angel, donated by Palm Mortuary, whose arms wrap around a heart.

"Baby Boy Harrah's" name is on the headstone.

He appears next to children who also were discarded in trash bins. Others were born to indigent parents or those with drug problems.

When they died, the county assumed responsibility for their tiny bodies by cremating them and giving them a place to rest eternally.

"We're here because when there is no one to step up to bury or cremate a child; the county has to do it," said Donna Coleman, a child welfare advocate. "We have to do it."

Remains of the children whose names are on the headstone are in a common mausoleum, resting in the company of casino mogul Ted Binion and big band leader Harry James.

Capt. Vincent Cannito, who ran the Crimes Against Youth and Family Bureau for three years, said 65 children died under similar circumstances in Clark County last year.

This year, that number stands at 32, Cannito said.

At the end of the ceremony, attendees released 150 baby blue and pink balloons into the air, each signifying the life of one of the children.

"We are all the keepers of children," said Sally Bedotto, a founding member of the Children's Advocacy Alliance, which helped sponsor the event. "We all have that responsibility."

More stones will be added when space runs out, she said.

"Because we couldn't be there for them when they were alive, we have to give them dignity in death," Bedotto said. "It's about the respect of human life. That's what we're trying to do, so they know they won't be forgotten."

Contact Kristi Jourdan at kjourdan@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0279.