Pennsylvania Mother Charged After Baby's Corpse Found While Putting Up Christmas Decorations
A Pennsylvania woman was charged with homicide in the death of her newborn after her father found the baby’s corpse while putting up Christmas decorations.
According to an affidavit, Brittany Robinson, 23, of Shenango, Lawrence County, was arrested Sunday and told investigators she was unaware that she was pregnant until after giving birth to the baby Friday in a bathtub.
ABC affiliate WTAE-TV reported that Robinson was arraigned Monday morning and denied bail.
According to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, the body of the newborn was put in a garbage bag and placed in a crawlspace beneath a porch at the back of the house.
The woman’s father, who was not named, found the baby when he was hanging up Christmas lighting and running a wire under the porch Sunday afternoon, according to WTAE.
When he found the baby’s corpse inside the bag, he dialed 911 and troopers were called to the residence around 3 p.m. EST.
“The homeowner was out preparing wiring for some decorative lighting and came across the bag in which he discovered a baby,” Pennsylvania State Police Lt. Eric Hermick told the local CBS radio station KDKA.
Contrary to Robinson’s claims, however, law enforcement officials said they found evidence that she knew of her pregnancy beforehand. According to police, In October, Robinson ordered pills online that she thought would end the pregnancy.
She told the police that she had severe stomach pains at work Friday and later gave birth at home. When she saw that the infant, who weighed 7 pounds and was 19 inches long, did not have a heart beat or a pulse, she placed the body in a dresser drawer in an enclosed porch at the back of the house.
She then went to her job at Big Lots in New Castle.
Robinson said she did not check on it until the next day when she saw that the baby was still not breathing and moved the baby to the crawlspace. The criminal complaint said nobody in her house was aware of her pregnancy either.
Her family said that she “kept it a secret,” Hermick said. The family members are cooperating with investigators, who also noted that Robinson was already a mother.
“Once again, she has an 8-year-old child as well at this time, so she’s familiar with being pregnant and how this all occurs,” Hermick said. “So that’s part of our case as well.”
Co-workers said Robinson was working at Big Lots for just two weeks as a cashier. She was taken for questioning by the police from the store.
KDKA cited the state police saying Robinson went to UPMC Horizon Shenango Valley hospital in Farrell for treatment related to childbirth, where she was discharged early Monday morning and immediately taken into custody by state troopers.
She was charged with criminal homicide, concealing the death of a child, abuse of corpse and tampering with evidence. As of Monday, it was unclear if she had entered a plea to the charges. She is being held without bail at Lawrence County Jail.
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