Woman charged in newborn son’s death
Says she did not know of pregnancy
A Lawrence County woman charged with homicide in the death of her newborn told police that she didn’t know she was pregnant and that the baby had no heartbeat or pulse upon his birth in her bathtub — though law enforcement officials say they found evidence that she knew of her pregnancy beforehand.
According to an affidavit, Brittany Robinson, 23, of Shenango, said she was unaware she was pregnant until after giving birth to the baby Friday at her family’s home in the 3200 block of Ellwood Road.
But how and why the infant boy’s body ended up underneath a porch at the home in a garbage bag, discovered by her father Sunday, is under investigation.
Ms. Robinson told police that after giving birth to the baby — who was carried to term and weighed 7 pounds and was 19 inches long, according to preliminary autopsy findings — she “didn’t notice a heartbeat or pulse” and placed the body in a dresser drawer in an enclosed porch at the back of the house.
She said she didn’t check on it until the next day, when she moved the baby — still not breathing, she said — to a crawl space, where her father found it Sunday while re-routing an extension cord while putting up Christmas lights. Nobody in the residence was aware of her pregnancy, either, she told police.
A search warrant executed at the home found evidence that provides “prior knowledge Brittany did know she was pregnant prior to giving birth.”
Ms. Robinson is charged with criminal homicide, concealing the death of a child, abuse of corpse and tampering with evidence.
Ms. Robinson went to UPMC Horizon Shenango Valley hospital in Farrell, Mercer County, for treatment related to childbirth, where she was discharged early Monday morning and immediately taken into custody by state troopers, state police told Pittsburgh PostGazette news partner KDKATV.
She was arraigned Monday morning and is being held at the Lawrence County Jail. An autopsy is scheduled Monday to determine the newborn’s exact cause and manner of death.