Ala. mom allegedly wrapped newborn in mattress cover, put him in the trash while still alive

DOTHAN, Ala. (TCD) -- An 18-year-old woman faces a capital murder charge after her newborn child was found dead inside a trash compactor and wrapped in a mattress protector.

According to the Dothan Police Department, on Aug. 24, staff at Southeast Health called police after a woman came in and was "attempting to recover a child she claimed she had left at their facility" 11 days earlier. She reportedly said she left her child with an employee in the lobby.

The female, who police identified as Jakayla Ashanti Williams, allegedly said she gave birth Aug. 13 at her home on Tate Drive, then drove to the hospital, handed him to an employee, and left. Police said she claimed she gave up the child because "she did not want the child and it cost too much money."

Williams' family reportedly did not know she was pregnant or that she gave birth until Aug. 23 when they went to the hospital trying to find whoever Williams handed the child to.

As police started looking into the case, investigators reportedly determined Williams did not go to the hospital on Aug. 24, and she corroborated that statement. According to police, Williams allegedly said she put her newborn son in a blanket and left him in an apartment complex’s dumpster while he was still alive. Williams reportedly "had no connection or affiliation with the apartment complex where she left her newborn child at."

Investigators found the dumpster with a trash compactor attached to it, and they took it to a nearby landfill. Police said investigators discovered a newborn child’s body wrapped in a mattress protector and placed inside a zipped duffel bag. Officials sent the remains to the Alabama Department of Forensic Sciences for positive identification.

Williams was arrested and charged with capital murder.

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• Dothan Woman Charged with Capital Murder For the Death of her Newborn Child - Dothan Police Department