John Jefferson
Daira T. Mejia Aguilar (Louisville Metro Police Dept.)
A 22-year-old woman in Kentucky was arrested over the weekend after police allegedly found her newborn baby dead and decomposing in the trunk of her car.
Daira T. Mejia Aguilar was taken into custody on Saturday and charged with one count of abuse of a corpse in connection with the infant’s death, records reviewed by Law&Crime show.
Officers with the Louisville Metro Police Department at about 8 p.m. on Saturday, July 6, responded to a call at an apartment in the 700 block of Zorn Avenue after receiving a report about a dead baby being concealed inside of the home, Louisville ABC affiliate WHAS reported.
According to a report from Louisville Fox affiliate WDRB, the caller told the 911 dispatcher that the baby had been “placed in a bag and hidden in a closet.”
Upon arriving at the address, first responders reportedly said they looked inside of a closet and found a bag that was covered in flies and appeared to have “possible blood” on it.
Police also made contact with Mejia Aguilar at the home. When questioned about the whereabouts of the baby, she allegedly admitted that she had given birth to a newborn child on Tuesday, July 2.
After being formally placed under arrest and being read her Miranda rights, Mejia Aguilar allegedly confessed that she had not reported the child’s death and had been keeping its remains in her home.
“She stated that she then wrapped the baby in a blanket then placed it inside of a trash bag and then placed the bag in the closet of the apartment,” an arrest citation reportedly states. Meija Aguilar then allegedly stated that she had “moved the baby to the trunk of her car” prior to the arrival of the officers, per WDRB.
Investigators on Sunday morning reportedly said they located the remains of a dead newborn in the trunk of a car that Mejia Aguilar confirmed belonged to her. The baby — which was wrapped in a blanket and stuffed inside of a trash bag — was described by investigators as being “a full-term newborn in the early stages of decomposition,” according to WDRB.
Authorities did not disclose the gender of the victim.
Mejia Aguilar on Monday appeared in Jefferson County Court of Justice for her arraignment where she entered a plea of not guilty, Louisville NBC affiliate WAVE reported. A judge subsequently ordered her to home incarceration.
Louisville CBS affiliate WLKY reported authorities are waiting on the results of a pending autopsy to determine the cause of death and whether the victim was stillborn, died during Mejia Aguilar’s labor, or died after being born.
Mejia Aguilar is currently scheduled to appear in court again on July 16.
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