Alabama Teenager Arrested for Murder After Ditching Newborn Son in Dumpster, Police Say

An Alabama teenager has been arrested after her newborn child was allegedly found wrapped in a mattress protector inside a dumpster, according to authorities.

On Aug. 24, police were called by the staff at Southeast Health in Dothan after a woman came into the facility and was “attempting to recover a child she claimed she had left" there 11 days earlier, the Dothan Police Department said.

The woman, later identified as 18-year-old Jakayla Ashanti Williams, reportedly said she left her child with an employee in the lobby.

According to police, Williams claimed she gave birth on Aug. 13 at her home, then drove to the hospital, handed the baby over to an employee and left. Williams, police said, alleged she had to give up the infant because “she did not want the child and it cost too much money.”

Authorities said Williams’ family reportedly were not aware she was pregnant or had given birth until Aug. 23, which is when they went to the hospital searching for whoever Williams purportedly gave the child to.

During the investigation, officials determined Williams never went to the hospital on Aug. 13, like she claimed.

Williams allegedly eventually told investigators she put her newborn son in a blanket and left him in an apartment complex’s dumpster while he was still alive, officials said.

According to police, Williams reportedly “had no connection or affiliation with the apartment complex where she left her newborn child at.”

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Detectives were able to locate the dumpster and took it to a nearby landfill to sift through its contents.

Investigators located the newborn child’s body wrapped in a mattress protector, which was then placed inside a closed duffel bag. The remains were sent to the Alabama Department of Forensic Sciences for positive identification.

Williams was arrested and has been charged with capital murder, officials said.