A teenage mother has been charged with murder after her newborn baby was found dead at a home in Georgia.
Police say Leticia Rodriguez, 17, used a ‘sharp knife’ to remove the umbilical cord of her son’s neck, wounding him in the process. She then allegedly used a pocket-knife to cut out his heart.
Police said relatives found her digging a hole in her backyard in Marietta, on the north-west outskirts of Atlanta, and the infant was found dead inside the home.
Rodriguez was charged on Wednesday with murder, aggravated assault, concealing a death, abuse of a dead body and abandonment of a dead body.
Marietta PD said officers responded to an address on Gramling Street around 3pm on Sunday, and found the baby boy ‘clearly injured’ inside the home.
Speaking at a news conference on Monday, MPD Public Information Officer Chuck McPhilamy said Rodriguez gave birth alone at home.
McPhilamy added that officers found Rodriguez digging a hole in the backyard, but she had not buried the baby.
Rodriguez admitted to police that she used a ‘sharp knife’ to remove the umbilical cord from her newborn’s neck, ‘causing a large laceration’ on the boy, according to her arrest warrant.
Police say Leticia Rodriguez, 17, used a ‘sharp knife’ to remove the umbilical cord of her son’s neck, wounding him in the process. She then used a pocket-knife to cut out his heart
Relatives found her digging a hole in her backyard in Marietta, on the north-west outskirts of Atlanta, and the infant was found dead inside the home
Rodriguez was charged on Wednesday with murder, aggravated assault, concealing a death, abuse of a dead body and abandonment of a dead body
She also admitted to using a pocket-knife to ‘cut out the deceased infant’s heart’, per the document.
The warrant adds that Rodriguez gave birth in her bed before concealing the baby’s death for around six hours.
A family member found her digging the hole in the backyard, per the document.
‘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.’
After her arrest, Rodriguez was taken to Wellstar Kennestone for medical treatment.
She was then booked without bond into the Cobb County Adult Detention Center on Wednesday evening.
