John Jefferson
Inset: Mallori Patrice Strait (Bexar County Jail). Background: Whataburger fast food joint where she allegedly gave birth to a baby girl and left her in a toilet (Google Maps).
Authorities in Texas arrested a woman after she allegedly gave birth inside a 24-hour fast food restaurant’s bathroom and left the corpse of the baby girl in the toilet.
Court records show Mallori Patrice Strait is facing an abuse of a corpse charge and sits in San Antonio’s Bexar County Jail on a $100,000 bond. According to an arrest affidavit obtained by San Antonio CBS affiliate KENS, employees at a Whataburger at the corner of FM 78 and Walzem Road told cops a woman came into the building around midnight Thursday. She reportedly locked herself into the bathroom around 2 a.m. and stayed there for several hours. The manager said the woman could be heard making several noises.
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Employees gave her water and offered her help. However, she reportedly would not leave. Eventually, they called 911 to have authorities check on the woman’s well-being. Deputies with the Bexar County Sheriff’s Office arrived and detained the woman. Firefighters also responded to the restaurant and reportedly found “human like material in the restroom.”
There was a baby girl still in the amniotic sac inside the toilet, according to the affidavit. First responders rushed the girl and Strait to the hospital. Doctors pronounced the girl dead. They reportedly determined Strait was about 28 to 30 weeks along in her pregnancy. The baby girl appeared to suffer injuries on her head, suggesting she had been forced down the toilet, the affidavit reportedly said. As first responders transported Strait to the hospital she reportedly said “I’m sorry, I’m not selfish.”
An autopsy will determine the cause of death and charges could be upgraded if authorities determine she harmed the baby.
Like most states, Texas has a Safe Haven Law, also known as the Baby Moses Law, that allows parents unable to care for their babies to drop them off at a fire station or hospital within 60 days, no questions asked.
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