MARIETTA, Ga. — A 17-year-old mother is now charged with murder in the death of a newborn baby in Marietta earlier this week.
In a release Friday, the Marietta Police Department said 17-year-old Leticia Rodriguez had been charged with felony murder and felony aggravated assault (with weapon), in addition to earlier felony charges of concealing a death, abuse of a dead body and abandonment of a dead body.
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An arrest warrant outlining the earlier charges indicated the mother admitted to police she had used a "sharp knife" to remove the umbilical cord from her newborn's neck after birth, "causing a large laceration" on the infant. It was not clear if the child was born viable or not and if that laceration would have happened before or after the infant's death. The mom also allegedly admitted to using a pocketknife to "cut out the deceased infant's heart."
MPD said officers responded last Sunday to a residential address on Gramling 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 yet buried at the time they found her. 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 attempting 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 being discharged from the hospital, the department said she would be booked into the Cobb County Adult Detention Center and held without bond. Cobb County Sheriff's Office records indicate Rodriguez was booked into the jail on Wednesday evening.
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.
The medical examiner is working to determine the cause of death of the newborn, including if the infant was stillborn or born alive.
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