In a shocking incident, an infant died of suffocation after her 25-year-old mother allegedly put her in a plastic bag and hid in desk drawer minutes after giving birth inside office bathroom in the US state of Michigan.
Kimberly Pappas, who has been charged with murder and child abuse, told investigators that after giving birth, she cut the umbilical cord with cuticle scissors and put the baby the bag, returning to her desk with him, Kevin Crittenden of the Redford police department was quoted as saying by Detroit Free Press.
Pappas, who doesn’t have a previous criminal history, faces life in prison if convicted of murder.
For roughly 15 minutes to a half-hour, the baby was in the bag before firefighters arrived and found him in the desk drawer on March 31, the report said.
Employees had called Redford Fire Department after discovering blood in the bathroom at the office.
Farmington Hills defense attorney Ray Cassar said on Friday that Pappas had been in therapy for mental-health issues, and that if she intended to murder the baby, she wouldn’t have done it at work.
He said he doesn’t know who the baby’s father is or whether he’s aware of what happened.
On the day of the incident March 31, she told firefighters that she was not feeling well, they could tell something was wrong with her and escorted her away from co-workers.
Police later learned that Pappas knew she was pregnant but told people at the freight-moving company that she wasn’t pregnant, the report said.
Crittenden said he has never seen a case like this, and he asked for people to be aware of the safe-delivery law that allows for newborn children to be dropped off at police or fire departments, no-questions-asked.