A northeast Missouri woman was arrested and charged with murder after her newborn baby drowned in toilet water. The woman, identified as Makuya Stephanie Kambamba, 28, of Kirksville, was arrested Friday by the Missouri State Highway Patrol, Kirksville Police Department and the Sullivan County Sheriff's Office.

According to court documents filed by the Missouri State Highway Patrol, the crime happened in a restroom at the Smithfield Foods plant in Milan, Missouri, where the woman works. Investigators said Kambamba knowingly allowed her boy to drown in the toilet water after she had given birth. She was charged with first-degree murder and second-degree murder.

According to court documents, Kambamba saw the baby moving as he was face down in the toilet water. She did not check on the child until approximately 30 minutes later when a Smithfield nurse entered the restroom.

An autopsy revealed evidence consistent with a drowning victim.

Kambamba also faces charges of first-degree involuntary manslaughter, second-degree involuntary manslaughter and abuse or neglect of a child resulting in death.

The young mother has been transported to the Daviess/DeKalb Regional Jail in Pattonsburg, Missouri, and is being held without bail.

newborn
Representational image. Getty Images/Christopher Furlong

Last month, a newborn baby was found dead in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. According to local reports, the baby was found discarded with the umbilical cord still attached along the Melton Lake Greenway on March 26, 2020. This incident occurred a month after a newborn baby was found abandoned inside a plastic bag near home in Marshville, North Carolina. Officers responded to the home after receiving a report that a newborn child was around. The responding officers heard a baby’s cries and while looking around the home, found the newborn inside a plastic bag near the fence.

RELATED STORIES