Teen Mother Sarah White Tried to Kill Newborn, Say Cops; Girl's Father Saved Infant
HENDERSON, Nev. (CBS/KPHO) A 19-year-old Nevada teen has been arrested on charges she tried to kill her baby just moments after she gave birth, police said, according to CBS affiliate KPHO.
Police said Sarah White hid her pregnancy from family and friends. Her mother only learned of it when she found White huddled in a bathroom April 3 with her newborn stuffed in a white kitchen garbage bag, said police.
They said White's mother sent her other daughter to call 911 after discovering the baby purple and not breathing.
White's father, a trained paramedic, resuscitated the newborn until paramedics arrived and took the baby to a local hospital.
According to a police report, Sarah White's parents had asked her for months if she was pregnant and the teen continued to deny it, claiming she was simply gaining weight.When White went into labor, she sent her mother to the store, claiming she needed constipation medicine, the report stated. Instead, the 19-year-old brought a garbage bag to the upstairs bathroom, got into the bathtub and turned on the water, knelt down and gave birth, the report stated.
After the birth, she tried to cut the umbilical cord, but told police it was too tough to cut through.
After giving up on cutting the cord, she told police she grabbed the bag and a towel, laid the bag on the ground and placed the baby on top of the bag. She told police she cleaned the baby and then swaddled it in the garbage bag.
When asked by police what she planned on doing with the baby if her mother hadn't found her, she stated: "I have no idea."
White told police she didn't reveal her pregnancy because she was scared of what her parents would think of her.
Neighbors told KPHO that White came from a nice family.
"There's nothing bad I can say about them," neighbor Cindy Waitkus said. "(Sarah's) a great kid, she hung out with my children."
The baby, now 11-weeks-old, was turned over to Catholic Charities and put up for adoption.