Urgently, the men began to dig through bloody tissues in a plastic-lined cardboard trash box in the restroom.
They ultimately uncovered a tiny pair of gray and cold legs that winter afternoon of Jan. 9. Marcinonis reached inside and pulled out a baby boy, who had been left upside-down at the bottom of the box.
Family Court Judge Joseph C. Bruno yesterday ordered Nio to stand trial on charges of attempted murder.
When they found the baby, Marcinonis testified, "he gave a little jerk of his legs and a tiny little cry." As a new father himself, Marcinonis said, he did not let go of the baby until they arrived at the emergency room where the infant was treated for hypothermia.
Assistant District Attorney Leslie Gomez credits Marcinonis and Staepel with saving the child's life.
"But for those firefighters who had a gut instinct, we would be here on murder charges," Gomez told Bruno yesterday.
Bruno told Nio through an Indonesian interpreter: "I find that a crime was committed, and more likely than not, you are the person who committed that crime."
He ordered her to be arraigned April 5 on charges of and relating to attempted murder, aggravated assault, and endangering the welfare of a child. Nio is in jail with bail set at $250,000.
Defense attorney Charles O'Connell 3d said that Nio is not denying maternity and has named the boy Joshua. The Department of Human Services has placed him in a foster home.
Through cross-examination of witnesses, O'Connell elicited testimony that Nio had lost a great deal of blood and had a weak pulse when Marcinonis and Staepel arrived.
"She's got serious medical problems. She was unattended when she gave birth," O'Connell told the judge, adding there is no evidence Nio intended to kill the child.
That was disputed by Philadelphia Police Officer Edward Kavanagh, who testified that he overheard Nio say in English to a hospital worker: "No, I was not pregnant. I did not have a baby."
Pennsylvania legislators have been considering "safe-haven" laws, allowing the parent of an unwanted newborn to leave the infant at designated safe places without fear of criminal charges. New Jersey is among the 34 states that have adopted such laws after several cases.
Marcinonis, who lives in Barrington, Camden County, and Staepel, of Cherry Hill, said yesterday that Jan. 9 was unlike any other day in their years as federal firefighters at the shipyard.
Marcinonis called the baby with dark hair "a cute little guy."
Contact Jacqueline Soteropoulos at 215-854-4497 or jsoteropoulos@phillynews.com.
