A tragic story comes out of Pennsylvania this week as authorities seek to understand the motive behind the brutal murder of a newborn baby boy.
According to the Christian Post:
A 26-year-old Pennsylvania woman could face the death penalty after she gave birth to a baby boy in the restroom of a sports bar in Allentown, suffocated him, then stuffed his body in a toilet tank before returning to the bar to finish watching a wrestling match in her bloodied clothes.
The woman, Amanda Catherine Hein, is now facing a single count of murder that could attract the death penalty due to the age of the child. She is yet to be arraigned as is reportedly recuperating in the hospital from the incident.
According to reports, Hein was watching a wrestling match on August 18 with friends at a sports bar in Allentown. She apparently went into labor during the match and went to the restroom, not returning to her friends’ table until about forty minutes later.
In the interim, Hein had experienced labor, given birth to a healthy baby boy, and suffocated him. After he was dead, she wrapped his body in a plastic bag and left him in a toilet tank. Perhaps most bizarre about the incident is that Hein returned to her booth – wearing her bloody clothes – to continue watching the game, go outside for a cigarette break, and hang out with her friends at the bar.
The report continued:
County Coroner Zachary Lysek said the baby boy was born late in the third trimester and was healthy. His office ruled the death a homicide after confirming the boy had died from suffocation.
Lysek noted that parents who do not wish to raise a newborn child can anonymously turn the baby over to any hospital in Pennsylvania.
Morganelli noted that police were able to track down Hein because the booth she sat in was covered in blood and she was the only female in the group of four that had reserved the booth.
The baby was discovered by a member of the bar’s cleaning crew who was trying to figure out why the toilet would not work.
Investigators have admitted to being puzzled by the woman’s story, to which she confessed willingly. “I cannot get inside this lady’s head,” said the District Attorney.
There is some irony in the fact that, in many states, Hein’s son could have legally been killed by much more brutal methods at the same point in gestation, as long as the act took place while the child was in utero. It is because Hein is not an abortionist, and because her son was murdered after being born alive, that she is facing murder charges.
