Baby left outside in rain will be returned to mom

The 16-month-old girl left outside in a downpour Saturday by hermother's boyfriend will be returned to her mother today.

The state's attorney's office denied yesterday a stateDepartment of Children and Family Services request to ask courtpermission to turn Niesha Jackson over to her maternal grandmother,spokesman Dave Schneidman said.

"We're disappointed. In a case like this you would like to havesome way to monitor the family. We would rather have waited untilthe mother got her life in better order," Schneidman said.

Police said the mother's boyfriend, Richard Ervin, 39, put thegirl outside because her mother was late picking her up Saturday.

The boyfriend at first told police he had found an abandonedbaby. Later, he admitted what had happened when the baby's mother,Bernadette Ervin, 24, came to claim her child. The couple are notrelated.

The boyfriend was arrested and charged with disorderly conductas a result of filing a false police report.