Authorities in Idaho have arrested an 18-year-old woman for allegedly leaving a dead newborn baby inside a Safe Haven Baby Box at a local hospital last month. Authorities arrested Angela N. Newberry on Thursday and charged her with one count of felony failure to report a death to law enforcement.
According to news releases from the Blackfoot Police Department and Safe Haven Baby Boxes, the “tragic incident” occurred on October 13, 2024, at Grove Creek Medical Center in Blackfoot, Idaho, approximately 250 miles east of Boise. The facility has a baby box on site that sounds an alarm when a child enters.
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On that day, staff at the medical center “responded immediately” when a baby box alarm went off. However, when they arrived, staff members made a grisly discovery.
“The medical team removed the infant from the bassinet within a minute,” the Safe Haven release reads. “Upon removal, they quickly discovered that the infant had died long before being placed in the baby box.
Idaho’s Safe Haven Law allows for the surrender of an infant who is unharmed and healthy. Therefore, this surrender did not meet the Safe Haven criteria, making it illegal under state law.
Police clarified that custodial parents can surrender a newborn to one of the boxes within 30 days of the child’s birth with no legal consequences.
The Twin Falls Police Department later took over the case after Blackfoot Police Department officers responded to the scene and started a death investigation. After more than a month of investigation, authorities said they had identified Newberry as the person who abandoned the deceased baby.
Police reported that the Blackfoot-Bingham Joint Detective Division, after diligent work over the last two months, arrested 18-year-old Angel N. Newberry of Twin Falls on a felony Bingham County arrest warrant for failing to report a death to law enforcement officials and the coroner.
The Bingham County Jail has transported and booked Angel on the aforementioned warrant.
Authorities stressed that the public will only receive limited information because of “the sensitive nature of the ongoing investigation” and “the potential for further criminal charges” against Newberry.
According to Nampa, Idaho ABC affiliate KIVI, the Safe Haven Baby Box at Grove Creek was installed in July and is the state’s first location where newborns can be left safely and anonymously.
