A newborn baby was discarded in a YMCA dumpster 13 years ago. The suspected mom is in custody

[mahatmakanejeeves]

Morning Mix

A newborn baby was discarded in a YMCA dumpster 13 years ago. The suspected mom is now in custody, police say.

By Gina Harkins
July 8, 2021 | Updated yesterday at 6:04 p.m. EDT

Police officers stood near a dumpster roped off by yellow tape in 2007 after employees at a southeast Pennsylvania YMCA discovered a newborn baby’s body in the trash.

The body was found inside a canvas bag, wrapped in a towel and plastic. The Lancaster County Coroner’s Office later ruled the baby girl’s death a homicide. She had been born alive, an autopsy found, but later suffocated.

No one was arrested in connection to the baby’s death for more than 13 years. The placenta and umbilical cord were also in the dumpster.

Now Tara Brazzle of Valparaiso, Ind., has been charged with homicide, Lancaster County District Attorney Heather Adams said in a Wednesday news conference. The 44-year-old woman told police last week that she had given birth to the baby in 2007, Adams said.

“She told police that she knew she was pregnant. She failed to seek any prenatal care for the baby and did not provide any medical care to the baby after giving birth,” Adams added. “According to Brazzle, she placed the baby in the trash dumpster located behind the YMCA several days later.” ... A court docket did not list an attorney for Brazzle.

{snip}

By Gina Harkins
Gina Harkins is the editor of Morning Mix at The Washington Post. She joined The Post in 2021 after reporting on the Defense Department for a decade at Military Times and Military.com. Twitter https://twitter.com/ginaaharkins

[PSPS]

1. Did Pennsylvania have a no-fault drop-off law at the time?

These are horribly sad incidents. Many, maybe most or all, states have laws that say anyone can leave a baby at any public agency at any time with no questions asked.

[marble falls]

2. At the risk of starting a shit storm. Before we criticize her too harshly, ...

... ) we really need more of the story.

If men also carried babies, there would have been more alternatives for her.

Fucking paywall. I had to look this story up in the Valpariso newspaper.

[LakeArenal]

3. Very good point.

Some shoes you can only walk-in when you’ve been in the exact situation.

[NH Ethylene]

4. It's hard to be sympathetic toward a 31 year old woman who kills her baby.

It's a whole different situation than when a terrified teenager gives birth secretly and doesn't know what to do.

I'm guessing drug or alcohol abuse explains why she was so irresponsible. Although the article said she was employed at the YMCA at the time.

[marble falls]

5. Especially when we don't know the whole story.

[NH Ethylene]

6. True, it's possible she was not the one who killed the infant. n/t