A Florida college student allegedly choked her newborn to death and dumped her body in the trash after delivering her in her dormitory bathroom, say prosecutors.
Brianna Moore, 19, was arrested in her hometown of Quitman, Mississippi and will be extradited to Hillsborough County, Florida to face charges of aggravated manslaughter of a child, child neglect with great bodily harm, unlawful storage, preservation or transportation of human remains, and failure to report death to medical examiner or law enforcement, officials announced Friday.
The former University of Tampa student allegedly secretly gave birth to a baby girl on April 27 in the on-campus bathroom she shared with her roommate at McKay Hall.
The roommate called campus police after allegedly hearing a baby's cries and discovering blood in their bathroom. When authorities responded, Moore allegedly denied being pregnant and purported the blood was from menstruation.
The next day, Moore's roommate allegedly found a bloody towel in their bathroom trash, and alerted police again. Investigators found the dead newborn wrapped in the towel.
"It breaks my heart to know that this baby girl could still be alive today if this woman had alerted authorities that she needed help," State Attorney Suzy Lopez said in a statement.
"Instead, she took actions that directly led to the death of her newborn baby. This is a difficult and nuanced case to prosecute, and our community must continue to educate women about the many resources available to them in situations like this one. This baby's death was avoidable."
An autopsy revealed the baby suffered multiple fractured ribs and hemorrhaging in her lungs. She died from asphyxia due to compression of the torso, said authorities.
Under Florida's Safe Haven law, parents have 30 days to surrender their newborns to staff at hospitals and fire stations without questions.
