Emily Jane Dickinson, 20, and Joshua Coleman Wooters, 19, have been charged with several offenses including criminal homicide months after the child was found.
A nursing assistant has been arrested three months after her newborn was found dead on a sidewalk, and police allege she threw the child out of a second-story window.
Police have arrested Emily Jane Dickinson, 20, and Joshua Coleman Wooters, 19, in connection with the March death of their newborn in McConnellsburg, Pa., according to online court records.
On March 11, Pennsylvania state authorities found the newborn boy on the street shortly before a coroner declared the child dead, according to local news reports.
Troopers responded to a call about a deceased infant and found a garbage bag with a bloodied mattress inside it, as stated in a complaint.
The coroner determined that the child was less than 24 hours old, authorities reported.
The child’s death was caused by “exsanguination from the umbilical stump,” according to a criminal complaint.
Troopers also found a placenta at the scene, authorities said.
During the investigation, Wooters allegedly denied knowing anything about the situation several times, as per the complaint.
He later told authorities that Dickinson cut the baby’s umbilical cord with a knife, based on the complaint.
When speaking with police, Dickinson allegedly said she did not want any children and only realized she was pregnant a few weeks before the baby’s birth, according to charging documents. She said after the child was born in the bathroom, she checked for his pulse and noted the child was not moving.
After some time, Dickinson allegedly disposed of the child and the placenta because she “wasn’t thinking clearly,” as per the complaint.
For his part, Wooters told troopers that Dickinson had allegedly picked up the infant and threw the child out the window, the complaint stated.
Dickinson and Wooters have been charged with criminal homicide, criminal homicide conspiracy, concealing the death of a child, and abuse of a corpse, according to online court records.
Additionally, Wooters has been charged with obstruction of the law.
Both were jailed on June 25 and are being held without bail.
Attorney and plea information were not available in court records as of the time this article was prepared.
If you suspect child abuse, you can call the Childhelp National Child Abuse Hotline at 1-800-4-A-Child or 1-800-422-4453, or visit www.childhelp.org. All calls are toll-free and confidential. The hotline is available 24/7 in more than 170 languages.