Teenage Michigan mom stabs newborn baby to death after giving birth in bathroom, hides body in purse inside closet
DETROIT, MICHIGAN: A 16-year-old mother allegedly stabbed her newborn baby to death before storing the remains of the baby in her purse and later transferring them to a closet.
The unidentified teen was charged with second-degree murder on Wednesday, October 9, in relation to the death of her one-day-old child, eight months after the victim was delivered by the accused in the bathroom of her house, on February 21, 2019.
After the birth of the infant, the teen mother covered the newborn with a towel before allegedly inflicting "multiple incised wounds to the neck" and placing its dead body in a purse. Next, she moved the same to her bedroom wardrobe on the same day, according to a WXYZ report.
She fainted from the trauma later in her house, causing her mother to call emergency medical services, who rushed her to a nearby hospital. While hospitalized, the accused met with law enforcement agents and recounted the story of how she had disposed of her newborn's body after giving birth.
According to Wayne County prosecutors, the police searched her house, following her account of the events, and found the baby's corse inside a closet.
Although a preliminary incident report said that the child was stillborn before being fatally stabbed by the teen, the information was later disproven by a medical examiner.
The accused will have her pretrial hearing on October 25 at the Juvenile Detention Center in Detroit. Her case will be tried in a juvenile court because although courts can try adults as children in the city, this particular case did not qualify as an exception.
Till her first hearing, the accused was ordered to stay outside jail with her mother. The police are currently looking for the teen's boyfriend as they are looking to charge him with having sex with a minor.
As to why it took so long for prosecutors to charge the woman, case officials said there were "several issues that arose in the case". No clarifications were given as to what those issues might be.
Jeffrey Lemons, a neighbor who lives near the area where the crime took place, told Click On Detroit: "I hope she didn't do that – that's the honest to God truth. I can't believe this girl would do that!"