FLAGLER COUNTY, Fla. — We have new details in the case where a woman gave birth in her bathroom and then buried her baby girl in her backyard.
The Flagler County Sheriff has confirmed the baby’s cause of death was drowning.
Eyewitness News saw body camera video that shows 20-year-old Anne Mae Demegillo being put in the back of a patrol car after deputies found her baby girl buried in her backyard. A call to the county’s non-emergency line led them to Demegillo’s home. A friend of Demegillo’s told dispatchers she told her she gave birth in her bathroom.
“The baby was alive and crying, and she had killed it and disposed of it somehow,” said the caller.
Flagler County Sheriff Rick Staly said Demegillo admitted to watching the baby drown and cleaning up the blood after giving birth in her bathroom.
“She did tell us that she was hoping that the baby would hurry up and die,” said Demegillo.
After that, investigators say Demegillo put the baby girl in a duffel bag in her closet and went to the New Smyrna Beach Playhouse to perform in a show. When she got home, she buried the 3-pound 6-ounce baby.
Woman charged with manslaughter in newborn’s death, deputies say
Detectives are now working to prove Demegillo knew she was pregnant all along.
“We personally believe she knew she was pregnant based on some of the evidence we have from text messages,” said Staly.
Right now, Demegillo is charged with aggravated manslaughter. The sheriff said investigators will also look to see if she looked up how to dispose of a child or researched giving birth on her phone. Any of that evidence could lead to more charges.3-pound 6-ounce
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