An Idaho teen is behind bars after a dead baby was found in a hospital drop-off box meant for the anonymous surrender of newborns.
Angel Newberry, 18, was arrested in Twin Falls more than a month after medical officials found the dead baby girl wrapped in a blanket with her placenta still attached in the Safe Haven Baby Box at the Grove Creek Medical Center in Blackfoot, authorities announced Friday.
“The Safe Haven Baby Box is intended to safely and anonymously allow custodial parents to surrender a newborn under 30 days old without legal repercussions, provided the child is unharmed,” the Blackfoot Police Department said in a social media post.
“Unfortunately, the placement of a harmed or deceased infant is not protected under the system of Idaho law.”
Hospital staff immediately responded to an alarm on Oct. 13 indicating a baby had been placed in the box — making the disturbing discovery that the newborn had been dead long before she was abandoned, according to Safe Haven Baby Boxes.
Idaho law only allows for the surrender of an infant who is unharmed.
“We are heartbroken,” Safe Haven Baby Box founder Monica Kelsey said last month.
“Let this be clear: this is an illegal, deadly abandonment.”
The accused teen was charged with failing to report a death to law enforcement officials and the coroner, police said.
Additional charges could be filed as the investigation into the circumstances surrounding the baby’s death is ongoing.
She is being held at Bingham County Jail.