DOTHAN, ALABAMA: Jakayla Williams, an 18-year-old Alabama mother, is facing a capital murder charge after allegedly throwing her newborn into a dumpster equipped with a trash compactor.
Williams was arrested on Thursday, August 24 after officials recovered the infant’s remains in the Dothan landfill. Investigators believe that the baby boy was alive when the mother threw him into the dumpster.
Williams is originally from Fairburn, Georgia, and previously attended Dothan High School, according to her Facebook page. She is currently being held at the Dothan City Jail without bail, according to Law&Crime.
When did Jakayla Williams dump her newborn baby?
At a press conference, Dothan Police Chief Will Benny noted that Williams dumped the baby boy after giving birth on August 13 at her private residence in the 1100 block of Tate Drive, Dothan.
Until Wednesday, August 23, Williams’ family was also unaware that she was pregnant and had given birth to a baby boy. Officials stated that the family was "led to believe" the child was in the care of medical staff.
After learning about the delivery, the family rushed to the medical facility in search of a “red-headed” employee, whom William claimed to have given the infant.
However, her claims were soon refuted after investigators examined the surveillance footage and found no evidence that she ever went to the hospital.
Benny noted that the child’s father received the same information that other family members did — that the newborn was taken to the hospital.
Why did Jakayla Williams dump her newborn baby?
After being arrested, Williams eventually admitted that she had dumped the infant as she did not want to be a mother at just 18 years old, and having a baby “cost too much money.”
During her interrogation, she told investigators that she wrapped her newborn in a blanket and placed him inside a dumpster at an apartment complex.
When police searched the dumpster, which had a trash compactor attached to it, officers found the infant’s remains there wrapped in a mattress protector.
The mattress protector was thrown inside a duffel bag secured with a zipper.
Investigator said the body was immediately transferred to Montgomery's Alabama Department for confirmation that the remains were those of the missing newborn.
“It is absolutely shocking. In all my years of law enforcement, I’ve never heard of anything so horrific as this. It shocks the mind. It shocks the soul. I don’t even really know what else to say about it,” Benny noted.
