An infant was found dead in an Idaho baby box. The mother was charged with a felony
.jpg "Prosecutors have charged an 18-year-old mother with a felony after police said she left her deceased infant daughter in an Eastern Idaho baby box.")
Hours after giving birth in mid-October, an 18-year-old Twin Falls woman placed her infant daughter in her black Audi, according to a probable cause affidavit written by the Blackfoot Police Department.
The young woman sat the newborn baby in an “upright position,” wrapped her in a towel and strapped a seat belt across her small body before driving two hours east to Blackfoot, where the state’s only Safe Haven Baby Box is located.
But when staff from Grove Creek Medical Center opened the baby box minutes later, they “quickly realized” the infant had died long before she was placed in the box, according to a news release from Safe Haven Baby Boxes, an organization that helps install the devices throughout the country.
“We are heartbroken. Let this be clear: This is an illegal, deadly abandonment,” Safe Haven Baby Boxes Founder Monica Kelsey said in the release. “Anonymity is only allowed when an infant is safely surrendered completely unharmed.”
Over a month later, prosecutors have charged the infant’s mother. The young woman is facing a felony for failing to report the death of her newborn daughter to law enforcement or the coroner, according to a news release from the Blackfoot Police Department. If convicted, she could be sentenced to up to 10 years in prison and face up to a $50,000 fine.
Under Idaho law, babies younger than 30 days can be legally surrendered as long as they are “personally delivered” to a hospital, fire station, law enforcement agency or a medical service provider. The Safe Haven Act prohibits the agency from inquiring about the parent’s identity, or if the organization is aware of the parent’s identity, it is required to keep that information confidential.
Gov. Brad Little expanded the law earlier this year to include newborn safety devices, like the baby box, after Sen. Julie VanOrden, R-Pinegree, pushed the Legislature to amend the law. Grove Creek Medical Center installed the baby box — the state’s only one — in July.
“As the only organization that provides an anonymous surrender option, we are on the front lines of educating the public on how this program works,” Kelsey said. “We will continue to educate citizens on the stark differences between illegal abandonment and legal, safe surrender of an unharmed newborn.”
Baby was ‘cold to the touch,’ affidavit said
Just after 1 p.m. Oct. 13, officers from the Blackfoot Police Department responded to Grove Creek, a hospital that specializes in labor and delivery services, after being informed that medical staff had found the infant, according to the affidavit.
Both officers and medical staff at the scene noticed that the baby was “cold to the touch, blue and non-responsive,” indicating the girl had been dead for some time, the affidavit said. Officers said they also observed lividity, or discoloration of the skin, because of settling and pooling blood, and a still-attached placenta.
While the hospital’s cameras didn’t point directly at the Safe Haven box for “anonymity purposes,” detectives were able to observe a black Audi drive through the area in front of the box and quickly leave, according to the affidavit. The vehicle didn’t have license plates but did have a Carmax brand placard, which detectives said helped them identify the young woman.
The woman told police in an interview that on the evening of Oct. 12, she’d gone into labor in her home when her family wasn’t there. She said the baby was still alive when she gave birth, the affidavit said. The 18-year-old had been hiding the pregnancy from her family.
The infant cried and made noise after the woman gave birth, she told police. The woman said she attempted to breastfeed her daughter multiple times and slept with the baby in her room that night, according to the affidavit. The woman said she looked online for a safe haven box, and after finding the one in Blackfoot, drove to the hospital.
When asked by police when she last heard the baby cry, the woman said that it was the morning of Oct. 13 and that she thought she heard her daughter make noises during the car ride, but “could not be sure,” according to the affidavit.
Police alleged that the woman lied to detectives during the interview when she told them that she parked by a nearby restaurant for about an hour while she decided whether to leave her baby, according to the affidavit. Footage from Cal Ranch showed that the woman had driven through the parking lot “briefly,” the affidavit said.
The woman also searched several things on the internet in the hours and days after leaving her baby, according to the affidavit, including: “If a baby passes before being placed in the safe haven will you still get in trouble.”
Bingham County Magistrate Judge Cleve Colson set the woman’s bail at $10,000 on Friday after hearing arguments from both the prosecution and defense. Her bond was initially set at $75,000. The woman, who has posted bond to get out of jail, has a hearing scheduled for 8:30 a.m. Dec. 5 at the Bingham County Courthouse, court records showed.
This story was originally published November 25, 2024 at 6:31 PM.
