TAMPA, Fla. — Police ordered a search warrant for a University of Tampa dorm after a baby was found dead on campus.
The Tampa Police Department executed the search warrant at a dorm room within McKay Hall on April 29.
The case started on April 27, when police said they received a call from campus security about a 19-year-old girl possibly experiencing a miscarriage after students heard a baby crying in the dorm room.
The call was turned over to EMS after it was deemed medical, and EMS cleared the call when the girl allegedly told them the blood in the common bathroom was from menstruation.
Police said they received another call the next day after campus security found the baby in a bag, and the parties involved were at the scene.
According to police, students living in the dorm room claimed they saw their roommate holding a bundled-up towel the morning of the 27th. They added that they brought a trash bag out of the room and thought it looked suspicious because of the incident. Police said the baby appeared to have already passed at this point.
During an interview, the girl allegedly told police she did not know she was pregnant but "may have been in denial."
Around 7 a.m., police said she claimed she felt sick and then gave birth in the dorm room bathroom. The girl said the baby started crying for a few seconds, so she picked her up and held her to her chest, which stopped the crying.
After holding the baby for several minutes, the girl allegedly told police she set the baby down on a towel and felt the baby's chest for a heartbeat. When she couldn't feel anything, she said she thought the baby had already passed, according to police.
Police said the girl claimed she left the baby on the towel and took a shower before cleaning the baby off with water. She told police she did not feel any signs of life and wrapped the baby in a towel, admitting that the entire baby was covered.
According to police, she then went to her bed and fell asleep for around one hour, leaving the baby wrapped in the towel on the floor near her. The girl woke up around 11 a.m. and checked the baby for signs of life, saying she did not see any.
She then wrapped the baby back up in the towel and put her in the trashcan in the dorm room before going back to sleep, police said.
Officers responded to McKay Hall just before 7 p.m. on April 28. TPD said that they found the newborn girl wrapped in a towel in a garbage bin.
The body was taken to the Medical Examiner's office for an autopsy to determine the cause of death. Police said the mother of the child was found and taken to a nearby hospital.
TPD added that Florida has a Safe Haven Law, which "allows parents to anonymously surrender an unharmed newborn infant seven days old or younger to any Fire Station, EMS station, or hospital staffed by full-time emergency medical technicians, paramedics, or firefighters. There will be no questions asked, and no charges will be filed for surrendering a newborn under the Safe Haven Law unless the infant has signs of abuse or neglect."
There are two Safe Haven Baby Boxes in Florida including one in Ocala and another one in Newberry (Alachua County).
If you're an expectant mother and are in need of support, you can contact the following resources:
- The Crisis Center of Tampa Bay: Dial 211
- Florida Department of Health, Maternal & Child Health Section: 850-245-4047
- The National Safe Haven Alliance Hotline: 888-510-2229
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