UPDATE: 5:10 PM EST
According to the Associated Press, the dead baby found in a teenager’s shopping bag at a NYC Victoria’s Secret was born alive and then asphyxiated.
Police disclosed the findings Friday. The city medical examiner’s office says an autopsy was inconclusive and more tests are needed.
Police believe 17-year-old Tiana Rodriguez gave birth to the baby at a friend’s house and that the infant was later asphyxiated.
More details to come.
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Victoria’s Secret security guards who suspected two teenage girls of shoplifting got the surprise of their lives when they stopped the girls to check their bags.
According to police, a security guard smelled a foul odor coming from the bag. That’s when one of the girls, a 17-year-old, admitted that she had a “baby in the bag.”
Police were called to the Herald Square lingerie store in Manhattan to investigate. The girl later told officers that she had given birth Wednesday, but did not know what to do with the fetus. The baby had matured only five to six months, police said.
The Medical Examiner’s Office was performing an autopsy on the baby, which was believed to be a boy, to determine whether the child was born dead or alive and the cause of death. The results of the autopsy are expected to be released Friday.
The teenage girls have been identified as Tiana Rodriguez, of Crown Heights, Brooklyn, and Francis Estevez, of Glendale, Queens. Police say it was Rodriguez who gave birth to the baby. She was taken to Bellevue Hospital. As of Thursday, Estevez was still being held by police.
They have both been charged with petty larceny, although more charges could follow.
And it turns out that neighbors and friends had no idea the teenage girl was pregnant.
“I couldn’t really tell because she’s a little heavyset, so I wouldn’t know if she was pregnant, pregnant or that’s just her,” neighbor Ramon Acosta said.
“I was in shock,” Acosta said of Thursday’s events. “I caught goosebumps and all that. It’s like, come on, that’s a young, innocent girl to my eyes.
We’ll keep you updated on the latest in this sad and bizarre case.
SOURCE: CBS | PHOTO CREDIT: Screengrab
