MARIETTA, Ga. — A 17-year-old mother is being charged in the death of her newborn son, Marietta Police said Monday.
The Marietta Police Department said officers responded Sunday to a residential address on Grambling Street around 3 p.m. and found the baby boy dead and "clearly injured" inside the home.
In a news conference on Monday afternoon, MPD Public Information Officer Chuck McPhilamy said the mother had given birth at the home and did not have anyone to help her.
McPhilamy also said investigators discovered the mother digging a hole in the backyard, but the newborn was not buried. The criminal warrant indicates the teen concealed the infant's death for about six hours after she gave birth in her bed. A relative caught her digging a hole in the backyard to bury the baby, the warrant states
"Investigators worked throughout the evening to determine what exactly caused all of this," McPhilamy said. "The family has been cooperative with us through this entire investigation, and certainly, our hearts go out to them... We can't imagine the trauma that they are going through."
Police said the mother was later arrested and taken to Wellstar Kennestone for medical treatment.
After she is discharged from the hospital, the department said, she will be booked into the Cobb County Adult Detention Center and held without bond on charges including concealing a death, abuse of a dead body and abandonment of a dead body, all felonies.
Neighbor Theresa Neill said the family was always kind to her and she's seen them around with a few kids. Neill had no idea something so horrific was happening across the street.
"There's lots of things, I guess, it could have been, but it sounds really sad," Neill said.
At this time, 11Alive is not naming the mother because she is under 18 years old and has not been implicated on a murder charge or other charges of violent crime, such as aggravated assault or manslaughter. We will update this story with updated charges when or if those are presented.
The medical examiner is working to determine the cause of death of the newborn, including if the infant was stillborn or born alive.
"Once we get that information back from the medical examiner, there will or could be additional charges. The reality is that could be two or three weeks before we get that information and we're able to continue our portion of the investigation," McPhilamy added.
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