A Pennsylvania woman was arrested and is being held without bond for the death of her newborn she apparently did not want.
Police in Williamsport said a nurse at the hospital told them it started as an obstetric trauma arrest on Tuesday evening.
21-year-old Chemari Truax had been home and “explained that she had been feeling nauseated and as if she was going to have diarrhea so she went to the bathroom,” and ended up delivering the 23-week gestation infant on the floor.
Then, she said the infant was breathing but she didn’t think the child would survive so she “did not seek or summon medical assistance for the child.”
Police said Truax cut the umbilical cord but did not clamp it, and the infant continued to breathe for about an hour when Truax went to the emergency room and the baby suffered cardiac arrest.
Medical staff spent 20 minutes trying to resuscitate the baby but were not successful.
Then, authorities said they learned Truax went to a clinic and tried to have an abortion in November, but that was unsuccessful.
A few weeks ago, on Feb. 15, she went to another hospital for abdominal pain and learned she was still pregnant. She also tested positive for cocaine.
In the hospital on Tuesday, staff asked if she’d been using cocaine and wanted a urine sample, but they said she “did not provide a urine sample and immediately signed herself out against medical advice.”
Finally, police went to her home with a search warrant and “located the umbilical cord cut from the baby upon its birth.”
Wednesday, Truax was charged with third-degree murder and endangering the welfare of a child.
She’s being held at the Lycoming County Prison.
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