HIGHLANDS RANCH, Colo. — A 23-year-old mother has been arrested after a lifeless infant with its umbilical cord still attached was found in the backyard of a home in Highlands Ranch on Tuesday night, the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office said Wednesday.
Deputies went to the 500 block of Longfellow Lane about 9:45 p.m. after the infant was found, the sheriff’s office said.
Camille Wasinger-Konrad was taken into custody and is being held on a no-bond hold at the Douglas County Detention Center.
Detectives have asked the 18th Judicial District Attorney’s Office that first-degree murder charges be filed against Wasinger-Konrad.
It’s unclear how the baby died. The cause and manner of death will be determined by the Douglas County Coroner’s Office, the sheriff’s office said.
A citizen found the body, the sheriff’s office said.
“On the porch, no coverings, nothing, completely naked,” Steve Johnson with the sheriff’s office said.
“It’s sad,” neighbor Julie Walz said. “My initial reaction is shock.”
Deputies said Wasinger-Konrad was renting a room in the house next door to where the baby was found.
“I believe that there are other options than the route that this woman went,” Walz said.
“This story is just so sad, this didn’t have to happen. This is exactly the story that the Safe Haven Law is designed to prevent,” said Linda Prudhomme with Colorado Safe Haven for Newborns. “The Safe Haven Law gives these desperate women a safe alternative.”
The Colorado Safe Haven Law that passed in 2000 allows a parent to avoid prosecution for surrendering an infant up to 72 hours old to an employee at any fire station or hospital with no questions asked, as long as the baby is unharmed.
Investigators are still working to find out how and why the baby died.
Wasinger-Konrad has previous charges of theft, burglary and failure to appear on her record.