*A 33-year-old Ohio woman is facing an “abuse of corpse” felony charge after she gave birth to a stillborn in the toilet of her bathroom.
Brittany Watts is accused of trying to plunge the toilet after clogging it with the baby and leaving it there while “she went on with her day,” prosecutors said, New York Post reports.
Watts miscarried at 22 weeks, and forensic pathologist George Sterbenz testified during a recent hearing that the “fetus was too young to be delivered.”
“It was going to be non-viable because she had premature ruptured membranes — her water had broken early — and the fetus was too young to be delivered,” Sterbenz added, WKBN reports.
This is heartbreaking. A woman in Warren, Ohio, has been charged with abuse of a corpse for trying to plunge a toilet after having a miscarriage at 22 weeks while using the restroom. pic.twitter.com/uYe6DZQULg
— Ben Crump (@AttorneyCrump) December 2, 2023
According to the autopsy report, the fetus was not injured, and the baby died before the birth.
“She said she felt the baby come out and there was a big splash,” said Det. Nick Carney, with the Warren Police Department, according to WKBN.
The baby was discovered in the toilet inside the young woman’s home on Sept. 22 by law enforcement officials.
“The issue isn’t how the child died, when the child died — it’s the fact that the baby was put into a toilet, large enough to clog up a toilet, left in that toilet and she went on [with] her day,” said Warren assistance prosecutor Lewis Guarnieri.
Meanwhile, defense attorney Traci Timko said … “This 33-year-old girl, with no criminal record, is demonized for something that goes on every day.”
Watts pleaded not guilty to the charge of abuse of a corpse. She was released on a $5,000 bond.
READ MORE: Tiffany Haddish Talks Common Breakup and Having 8 Miscarriages
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