Girl, 14, charged as adult for allegedly strangling, leaving baby in shoebox

LAKELAND, Fla. — A 14-year-old girl who authorities said secretly gave birth to a son and then strangled him, will be prosecuted as an adult.
 
Cassidy Goodson will appear in court Friday on charges of first-degree murder and aggravated child abuse. A Polk County grand jury indicted her on Thursday.
 
Goodson was arrested Sept. 28 after deputies said she gave birth to a 9.5-pound boy inside a bathroom then strangled him.
 
Detectives said the girl hid her pregnancy from her family. She gave birth to a boy in the bathroom of her home on Sept. 19. She told detectives she choked the baby and put him in a shoebox.

According to an autopsy report, the boy was a full-term infant and he was alive and breathing prior to death. The cause of death was a result of asphyxia from strangulation and blunt force trauma, said the report.

The girl's mother found the baby in the box, hidden in some laundry. Her lawyer has refused to comment to local media.

WFTV