FL - Newborn male found in bag thrown in dumpster, Lakeland, 11 May 2023

[imstilla.grandma]

LAKELAND, Fla. - While a man was combing through a dumpster behind a Lakeland business, he came across a bag. Inside that bag was a deceased baby, the police chief said Thursday.

The body was found with the umbilical cord still attached, wrapped in a plastic bag, said Lakeland Police Chief Sam Taylor during a Thursday press conference.

The dumpster was located behind the Just Move gym on Florida Avenue South. Police think the male baby had been there for less than 10 hours.

"The medical examiner is in possession of the child," the police chief said, adding that charges would depend on the final autopsy report. "Detectives and police are out there canvassing the area to find any information they can that will lead them to who put the child in the dumpster."

It's at least the second case of its kind in Polk County this year. In January, a newborn was found abandoned near a Mulberry mobile home park. That child luckily survived.

Florida's Safe Haven Law allows parents to leave their unharmed newborn child – up to a week old – at hospitals or EMS and fire stations anonymously. Just two minutes away from the Just Move gym is an emergency room, Chief Taylor said.

"Safe places are any police department, fire station, a hospital, or emergency room," he said. "They can take them in no questions asked."

Lakeland baby found dead in dumpster, police chief says

While a man was combing through a dumpster behind a Lakeland business, he came across a bag. Inside that bag was a deceased baby, the police chief said Thursday.

www.fox13news.com

 

[PayrollNerd]

I hope the Mom is ok and safe. It’s sad that this is what someone thought was the best solution. Hope the poor little baby didn’t suffer.

Snip
At this time, it's unknown whether the child was a stillborn or a victim of homicide. The police chief said he wouldn't provide a further description of the child, but said – emphasizing that investigators still don't know the cause of death – that if there is any pregnant woman who believes they cannot care for the child, there are options.

Lakeland baby found dead in dumpster, police chief says

While a man was combing through a dumpster behind a Lakeland business, he came across a bag. Inside that bag was a deceased baby, the police chief said Thursday.

www.fox13news.com

 

[GoneGoldfishin']

Lakeland PD release images of persons of interest who may have details related to newborn found in dumpster

Surveillance images of four individuals and a vehicle were released by Lakeland police in hopes of figuring out how the body of a male baby ended up in a dumpster.

www.fox13news.com

 

[borndem]

And, of course, how many couples would love to have a newborn baby to love and to raise. Who knoze what that wee babe might have grown up to do -- to help people, children, this country, or the world. We'll never know, and that's very sad.

 

[MissMalowe]

(Notice the males shirt can be seen in the photo of one of the other female POIs..... just 4 random individuals who were at the same place around the same time or traveling together?! If 4 individuals couldn't put their heads together to come up with a better, legal solution (like a hospital, fire or police station) that's, well.....very sad.

If LEs thought is that one of the individuals is the person who did the actual dumping AND is likely the parent of the newborn, I'm leaning towards the male or the woman in the pink shirt with black pants. Though obviously not impossible or unheard of, shorts RIGHT after childbirth, especially JEAN shorts or shorts that have WHITE wouldn't be my first choice of attire postpartum. Black leggings would though. Comfy + dark. Realize just going off of clothing choices isn't a great investigative tool in this case though, just sharing thoughts that popped into my head when I saw the photos.

 

[OrangeCash]

Terrible there's obviously more to the story but whatever it is that got them to this point is just awful.

Any ideas on what kind of place they're in on CCTV? Looks like the inside of a public building of some sort but I can't narrow it down any further than that. Does it look familiar to anyone?

MOO

 

[OrangeCash]

DBM

 

[OrangeCash]

(Notice the males shirt can be seen in the photo of one of the other female POIs..... just 4 random individuals who were at the same place around the same time or traveling together?! If 4 individuals couldn't put their heads together to come up with a better, legal solution (like a hospital, fire or police station) that's, well.....very sad.

If LEs thought is that one of the individuals is the person who did the actual dumping AND is likely the parent of the newborn, I'm leaning towards the male or the woman in the pink shirt with black pants. Though obviously not impossible or unheard of, shorts RIGHT after childbirth, especially JEAN shorts or shorts that have WHITE wouldn't be my first choice of attire postpartum. Black leggings would though. Comfy + dark. Realize just going off of clothing choices isn't a great investigative tool in this case though, just sharing thoughts that popped into my head when I saw the photos.

Seems they were travelling together in a red sedan the night before the baby was found
Lakeland Police Seek Four 'Persons of Interest' in Death of Newborn Found in Dumpster - LkldNow

"The surveillance photographs, which appear to have been taken at night, show four individuals who were traveling together in a red sedan near the Just Move fitness center at 3625 S. Florida Ave. around the time the baby’s body is believed to have been dumped.
....
The baby’s body, with the placenta and umbilical cord still attached, was in a plastic bag. Police Chief Sam Taylor said investigators believe it was dumped less than 10 hours before a man rummaging through the dumpster discovered it and called 9-1-1 early Thursday.

Officers responded at 6:03 a.m. – meaning the baby was most likely placed in the dumpster after 8 p.m. Wednesday."

 

[PaulaDC]

Police: Baby found in Lakeland dumpster was stillborn, woman charged

Just last week, a baby was found dead inside a dumpster in Lakeland. Now, authorities say the baby was a stillborn, and never took a single breath.

www.fox13news.com

 

[OrangeCash]

Police: Baby found in Lakeland dumpster was stillborn, woman charged

Just last week, a baby was found dead inside a dumpster in Lakeland. Now, authorities say the baby was a stillborn, and never took a single breath.

www.fox13news.com

Oh wow

 

[MissMalowe]

Pretty lame excuses for throwing your baby away like literal trash!

*Edited to add, and everyone came along for it?! Looks like a young child next to Lady in 3rd pic.*

 

[Sincerely]

Terrible there's obviously more to the story but whatever it is that got them to this point is just awful.

Any ideas on what kind of place they're in on CCTV? Looks like the inside of a public building of some sort but I can't narrow it down any further than that. Does it look familiar to anyone?

MOO

There is a Dollar Tree right next door but I cannot tell if that is where they are at?

 

[PaulaDC]

There is a Dollar Tree right next door but I cannot tell if that is where they are at?

View attachment 422602

Looks like white counters with a black stripe. I'd say this is probably it.

 

[EmiliaRT007]

“He was born dead with a brain deformity” AND?! He’s a human being! So what he never took a single breath, his parents still attempted to hide his death. If they really cared about him they would have given him a proper burial or cremated him.

 

[EmiliaRT007]

I hope the Mom is ok and safe. It’s sad that this is what someone thought was the best solution. Hope the poor little baby didn’t suffer.

Snip
At this time, it's unknown whether the child was a stillborn or a victim of homicide. The police chief said he wouldn't provide a further description of the child, but said – emphasizing that investigators still don't know the cause of death – that if there is any pregnant woman who believes they cannot care for the child, there are options.

Lakeland baby found dead in dumpster, police chief says

While a man was combing through a dumpster behind a Lakeland business, he came across a bag. Inside that bag was a deceased baby, the police chief said Thursday.

www.fox13news.com

He was stillborn and had a brain abnormality. His mom didn’t know she was pregnant until giving birth.

Still attempted to conceal his death. Poor baby boy, thrown away like a piece of garbage. All around a sad case. I sympathize with him and with his mother, honestly.

I’m sure she didn’t know what to do honestly. Not making any excuses for her but I imagine it was hard. Not knowing you were even pregnant just to give birth and your baby comes out stillborn. All around just so sad.

RIP precious baby boy

 

[PaulaDC]

(Notice the males shirt can be seen in the photo of one of the other female POIs..... just 4 random individuals who were at the same place around the same time or traveling together?! If 4 individuals couldn't put their heads together to come up with a better, legal solution (like a hospital, fire or police station) that's, well.....very sad.

If LEs thought is that one of the individuals is the person who did the actual dumping AND is likely the parent of the newborn, I'm leaning towards the male or the woman in the pink shirt with black pants. Though obviously not impossible or unheard of, shorts RIGHT after childbirth, especially JEAN shorts or shorts that have WHITE wouldn't be my first choice of attire postpartum. Black leggings would though. Comfy + dark. Realize just going off of clothing choices isn't a great investigative tool in this case though, just sharing thoughts that popped into my head when I saw the photos.

I looked at the Facebook page of woman named as the woman who came forward to police. In my opinion it appears to be the striped shorts individual. Her face in the store photo looks stressed to me. If I am correct she has a son and younger daughter and her son is enrolled in school in FL which also kind of was a confirmation that I was onto the correct woman. I'm trying to figure out how she didn't have a clue she was pregnant after having two other children. I mean I've heard of that happening before but it always sounds so strange to me. Just moo.

 

[iamshadow21]

He was stillborn and had a brain abnormality. His mom didn’t know she was pregnant until giving birth.

Still attempted to conceal his death. Poor baby boy, thrown away like a piece of garbage. All around a sad case. I sympathize with him and with his mother, honestly.

I’m sure she didn’t know what to do honestly. Not making any excuses for her but I imagine it was hard. Not knowing you were even pregnant just to give birth and your baby comes out stillborn. All around just so sad.

RIP precious baby boy

It said in the article that she didn't go to the hospital because of her immigration status and lack of money to pay for treatment.

Despite that, she came forward when the story hit the news.

How many times on this site do we hear of a child disposed of in a bin or a suitcase and hope that it was just a natural death, that the family were maybe undocumented and just scared to come forward? I've seen it on multiple threads, and I can't think of a single one where that turned out to be the case - they were pretty much all cases of child abuse resulting in death.

This looks, to all accounts, to be that case.

She was scared, not just for herself but for her family, she didn't know she was pregnant, the baby died through no fault of her own. She felt she couldn't report the death because she was afraid of deportation.

And when they went public with the story, she came forward anyway. I'm guessing because she was grieving, regretful, and knew it was the right thing to do, despite the consequences. I can't imagine the courage that took.

We can hate that a baby ended up in a bin - it always makes me upset, regardless of the circumstances - but I can understand how this child ended up there. I can't understand people murdering their babies, putting them in the garbage alive, or leaving them to die of exposure. That didn't happen here.

The Safe Haven laws wouldn't have helped in this circumstance; the baby never drew breath. I can hate that a child ended up in a bin, but at the same time, I'm trying to put myself in her shoes and think, what would I do in her circumstances? And to be honest? I don't know.

I can grieve the little life that never was, but I can also grieve that this woman and her family's lives are irrevocably changed from this point. She didn't kill him. She just didn't have any options that didn't expose her and threaten the life that she's built for herself. And that's the tragedy. If there was a way for her to report this death without risking deportation, I think she would have.

MOO

 

[Gardenista]

She's evil.

 

[Goecke]

I honestly have sympathy for the mother here too. Of course what she did wasn't okay, but it sounds like she was in a very tricky situation. I'd say the charges against her are adequate.
The one thing I don't understand is why she brought 3 people (and possibly a child) along with her to dispose of the body. At first I thought she was out shopping with friends/family and unexpectedly gave birth in the Dollar Tree bathroom or something, but the article said she gave birth outside of her home so they obviously brought the baby's body with them.

 

[Eloise]

She's evil.

I don't think she is. If it's true she didn't know she was pregnant (which is unusual, but definitely not unheard of or impossible even in women with previous pregnancies), it would have been incredibly shocking to give birth at all let alone to a stillborn baby with a 'severe brain deformity'. IF it was something like anencephaly that would have been incredibly shocking and confronting. She would probably literally have been in shock and had absolutely no idea what to do. I feel a lot of compassion for her. She didn't do the right thing at all, no, but the baby was already dead and well beyond saving (and even if he had born alive most such cranial deformities clearly observable at birth result in death soon after birth anyway and are incompatible with life) and while it was inappropriate I imagine fear of the authorities also would have played into that choice, not just lacking the money.

I think being charged with the inappropriate dealing with the remains is appropriate, don't get me wrong. I just don't think she's evil. She was confronted with a horrifying situation.

The people she was with, who weren't suffering the physical and emotional shock of labour and delivery, should probably have been the ones to help make the better decisions for her instead.