College student gave birth to boy later found buried in shallow grave at home of newborn’s father, police say

A North Carolina college student and the father of her baby were arrested after police learned the couple’s newborn was buried in a shallow grave shortly after birth.

On Sept. 7, the High Point Police Department opened an investigation after discovering that three days earlier, Olivia N. Billington, 21, had given birth to a boy on the High Point University campus.

On Sept. 6, the infant’s father, Alex Holden Best, 19, buried his son’s body in a box at his Iredell County home.

Police said neither Billington nor Best sought medical treatment for the baby, and autopsy results to determine the manner and cause of the child’s death were inconclusive.

“There’s not simply enough to say what the cause of death was. It could be a variety of things, labor and birth is a very complicated and intensive thing,” High Point police Lt. Travis Reams said, WGHP reported.

He added, “We don’t know the motive of why it was such a secret.”

Best and Billington each face a charge of felony concealment of death. Best was being held in the Iredell County jail on a $10,000 secured bond. Billington was released on a $50,000 secured bond.

Reams noted the case was a “rarity.”

“I’m on the front end of this thing, and I see the resources we have available, and when people feel like they were out of options, or whatever the case may have been, that’s a hard pill for me to swallow,” he said.

In a statement, HPU noted the school “continues to provide health, safety and support services on campus to all students.”