Weatherford police say new mother killed newborn, put in trunk of car
A 22-year-old woman whose newborn baby was found dead in a plastic bag in the trunk of her car on Tuesday faces charges of capital murder and abuse of a corpse, Weatherford police said Wednesday.
The estranged husband of Ashley Nicole Blades called police Tuesday afternoon to say that she had sent him a text message that she had given birth and the baby was dead, said Lt. Chris Crawford, a Weatherford police spokesman.
When officers arrived at Blades’ residence in the 400 block of W. Ball St., she told them that the body was in the trunk of her Ford Focus, according to a probable cause affidavit.
“Initially we didn’t see the infant,” Cpl. T. Johnson wrote in the affidavit. “Blades, from the front of the car, told us that it was wrapped up in a towel that was in a plastic shopping bag.
“I had gloves on, so I pulled back the plastic and the towel and discovered an infant that appeared to be deceased.”
During questioning, Blades “admitted to suffocating the baby” Monday night and leaving the body wrapped in a towel overnight, Johnson said.
She admitted that at one point during the day she was trying to keep the crying baby quiet so she covered the infant’s nose and mouth for a minute or two.
Weatherford police Lt. Chris Crawford
Blades told detectives that she delivered the baby Monday morning at her parents’ home, where she was living, police said.
“She admitted that at one point during the day she was trying to keep the crying baby quiet so she covered the infant’s nose and mouth for a minute or two,” Crawford said.
She said the baby didn’t cry or seem the same after that, he said. She told detectives that later that night, she realized the baby was dead.
Crawford said detectives are still investigating whether the parents were at the house.
Blades was in Parker County Jail on Wednesday night with bail on the capital murder charge set at $250,000, and bail on the abuse of corpse charge set at $5,000.
A capital murder charge is punishable by death or life without parole.
The Tarrant County medical examiner’s office is to determine the cause and manner of the baby’s death.
Monica S. Nagy: 817-390-7792, @MonicaNagyFWST
This story was originally published November 4, 2015 at 5:47 PM with the headline "Weatherford police say new mother killed newborn, put in trunk of car."