A Florida college student, Anne Mae Demegillo, 20, is behind bars after allegedly watching her newborn drown following an unplanned birth in a toilet, police said, and they reported finding photos of “America’s most hated mom” Casey Anthony on her phone. A grand jury indicted Demegillo on Monday on charges of first-degree murder, aggravated child abuse, and failure to report the death of a person with the intent to conceal the death or alter the evidence or circumstances surrounding such death, according to FOX 13.
Police said Demegillo’s phone contained images of Casey Anthony, who was acquitted in 2011 of killing her two-year-old daughter, Caylee, in a case that remains unsolved. Demegillo was initially arrested in March on charges of aggravated manslaughter of a child stemming from the death of her newborn daughter, the State Attorney for Florida’s 7th Circuit said in a statement.
Prosecutors allege Demegillo gave birth on a toilet inside her home and allowed the baby to drown while she cleaned up the blood. Demegillo reportedly claimed she did not know she was pregnant when she delivered the child. Immediately after the birth, she allegedly hid the baby inside a duffle bag in her closet and “went about her normal daily routine,” the Flagler County Sheriff’s Office said in a previous statement. She reportedly returned later in the day to bury the remains in a shallow grave, authorities allege.
Following a monthlong investigation, authorities said Demegillo had searched terms such as “newborn premature babies,” “Palm Coast OBGYN,” and “foods to decrease fertility,” according to the sheriff’s office.
“This is one of those tragic cases that shock you to your core that a mother would allow a newborn to die because the newborn was a distraction to her life,” Flagler County Sheriff Rick Staly said in a statement. “It’s hard to comprehend how a mother would choose to watch their infant drown instead of lifting the baby out of the toilet.” Authorities were initially called to Demegillo’s home on March 6 regarding a welfare check on an adult female later identified as Demegillo; the caller said she had secretly been pregnant and unexpectedly delivered the child at home, according to police. The messages allegedly revealed the baby was “born alive and crying, but Demegillo had done something to the incident,” authorities added. Upon speaking with Demegillo, she allegedly told officers she was “not sure she was pregnant but began experiencing severe abdominal pain” in the early hours of March 5 and later delivered the child.
