A Florida college student is facing a first-degree murder charge in the death of her newborn in a case investigators say included apparent interest in Casey Anthony, the Florida woman acquitted of killing her 2-year-old daughter in 2011. Authorities in Flagler County allege 20-year-old Anne Demegillo delivered a baby girl in a toilet at her Palm Coast home on March 5, watched the infant cry and drown, then went to class and participated in a campus play before returning to bury the child in a shallow backyard grave, per NBC News.
A grand jury on Monday indicted Demegillo on charges of premeditated murder, aggravated child abuse, and failing to report a death with intent to hide evidence; she is being held without bail. An affidavit says Demegillo messaged a friend about what happened, and that friend contacted police. Investigators say she later told officers she removed the baby from the toilet only after it stopped moving, wrapped it in a blanket, and placed it in a duffel bag stored in her closet before the burial. The sheriff's office adds that Demegillo's claim that she wasn't sure she was pregnant was disputed by internet searches completed before the baby was born, per the Daytona News-Journal.
Demegillo allegedly searched for "newborn premature babies," "Palm Coast OBGYN," and "foods to decrease fertility." Authorities say her phone also held images of Anthony, who was acquitted of murder after her lawyers argued her daughter had died in an accidental drowning, which suggests "searches on the death of a child and subsequent investigation." In a Monday statement, Flagler County Sheriff Rick Staly suggested Demegillo had allowed her baby to die "because the newborn was a distraction to her life." He added that the baby, born premature and weighing a little over 3 pounds, would've survived otherwise.
,
uBlock 
,
and
Ghostery 
)
