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A 20-year-old Florida female gave birth in a toilet in her home last week, left her newborn girl there, waited until her baby stopped "crying and moving," and watched her baby die, police said.
Authorities received a call around 4 a.m. Friday requesting a welfare check on Anne Mae Demegillo, 20, of Palm Coast, the Flagler County Sheriff’s Office said.
'May God bless this infant and hold and comfort the baby in his loving hands with the love the baby never received on earth.'
The caller told dispatchers Demegillo had sent messages to the caller stating she had been secretly pregnant and unexpectedly gave birth at home, officials said. The message indicated that Demegillo’s baby was born alive and crying, but Demegillo had done something to the infant, officials said.
Deputies arrived on scene and met with Demegillo, who told them she wasn't sure she was pregnant but began experiencing severe abdominal pain around 3 a.m. Thursday and later delivered the newborn in her bathroom toilet, officials said.
Demegillo claimed she thought the infant was deceased, so she hid the infant in a duffle bag in her closet and went about her normal daily routine, officials said.
When Demegillo returned home from a theater performance in New Smyrna Beach, she buried the deceased infant in a shallow grave in her backyard, officials said, adding that at no point did Demegillo contact emergency services for assistance.
Detectives determined that Demegillo knowingly and purposefully allowed the newborn to drown in the toilet, officials said.
Chief Deputy Joe Barile of the Flagler County Sheriff's Office told WESH-TV, "It baffles me, to be completely honest. Sometimes you can't explain everything."
The newborn girl weighed three pounds, six ounces, and measured 18 inches long, the station noted.
"She goes to the bathroom, she thought she had cramps, pains, and ... she goes into labor, and then delivers a child," Barile said, according to WESH. "She sees it in the toilet, leaves it there, watches it, hears it cry, and waits until it stops crying and moving."
Barile added to the station that "she hid the infant in a duffel bag in her closet and went about her normal routine. She went to her college." Barile told WESH the suspect also went to the Little Theatre in New Smyrna Beach for a performance in which she played the character Virtue in the musical "Anything Goes."
Detectives said Demegillo returned home around 10 p.m. Thursday and buried the baby, wrapped in a towel, in the backyard grave, the station said. Barile added to WESH that "deputies only had to remove, I'd say, four to five inches of dirt to find the baby."
Deputies told the station the newborn appears to have died from abandonment.
Demegillo faces aggravated manslaughter charges, WESH said, adding that she showed no sadness or remorse. She appeared before a judge Saturday morning and was denied bond, the station reported.
"This is a heartbreaking tragedy for our community, for the family involved, and an emotionally difficult case for our team,” Flagler County Sheriff Rick Staly said. “I want to remind our community, especially our expectant mothers: Florida law allows you to bring a child at birth to a local fire station, hospital, or law enforcement agency and surrender the child. That is a much better solution than what we are investigating today — for everyone involved, but most importantly the infant who was prevented from the life they deserve. May God bless this infant and hold and comfort the baby in his loving hands with the love the baby never received on earth.”
Under Florida’s Safe Haven Law, parents who cannot care for a newborn may safely surrender the child at any fire station, hospital, or police station, officials said. Palm Coast's Safe Haven Baby Box allows for complete anonymity and is located at Fire Station 25, officials said. Parents can quietly and safely place their newborn inside the secure, climate-controlled box without having to interact with anyone face-to-face, officials said.
Those with information are encouraged to contact the sheriff's office at 386-313-4911.
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