Father Found Unfit to Face Charges he Left Baby in Field

A central Illinois man has been found unfit to go to trial on charges he left his 6-month-old baby daughter to die by abandoning her in a bean field.

Champaign County Judge Thomas Difanis made the ruling Monday after receiving a report from a psychiatrist on 23-year-old Thomas Boitnott of St. Joseph.

Boitnott was arrested June 11. The (Champaign) News-Gazette reports he snatched the baby girl from her mother's St. Joseph apartment. She reported the baby missing.

The baby girl was found alive in a muddy field but dehydrated and bitten by mosquitoes. Boitnott was charged with attempted murder, child abduction and possession of a stolen vehicle.

He is held on $1.5 million bond. The newspaper reports he is expected to be sent to a Springfield mental health center.