Mom charged with murder, child abuse after newborn found in trash bag in home

UNION COUNTY, N.C. (WGHP) -- A mother was arrested in North Carolina and charged with murder after paramedics found a newborn baby hidden in a trash bag in a closet, investigators say, WBTV reports.

She was reportedly trying to hide her pregnancy from her husband.

Deputies say Khrystina Marie Rice, 27, was found in a Union County home Sunday morning after her husband found her bleeding on the bathroom floor and called 911.

Paramedics found a newborn hidden “inside of a trash bag in the closet" and “wrapped from head to toe in a blanket.”

The newborn had a faint pulse and was taken to the hospital with Rice but died hours later.

The medical examiner says the baby was born healthy and suffered multiple fractures.

Asphyxiation was ruled as the official cause of death.

She was arrested and charged with first-degree murder and felony child abuse and is being held without bond.