By The newspaper
Louisville Metro Police arrested a 22-year-old mother after finding the decomposing body of her newborn baby in the trunk of her car. The woman admitted that she had given birth on July 2, but authorities are investigating how the infant died.
State authorities said Daira Mejia Aguilar was arrested on charges of abusing a corpse following the “gruesome discovery” Sunday, July 7, at her home at 700 Zorn Avenue in the Brownsboro Zorn neighborhood.
The bag with flies in the closet
Louisville Metro Police Department officers responded to a call to a home after receiving reports of a baby who had allegedly been placed in a bag and stored in a closet, according to an arrest citation obtained by NBC affiliate WAVE.
According to the report, officers located a trash bag inside a closet with what appeared to be “possible blood and flies.” At that time, the mother confessed that she had given birth to the baby on July 2 and that she had later wrapped him in a blanket.
Mejia was arrested by police. During questioning, the mother said she had taken the newborn to a car. When officers arrived to look for more clues, they located the baby’s body in the trunk of the vehicle, which belonged to Mejia.
The baby’s body was in the early stages of decomposition, authorities said, but did not reveal the sex of the newborn.
They await the coroner’s report
Authorities are awaiting the results of an autopsy by the county medical examiner and are working to determine the cause of death and whether the victim was stillborn, died during childbirth or died after birth.
Daira Mejia Aguilar appeared in Jefferson County Justice Court for her arraignment, where she pleaded not guilty, WAVE reported. A judge later ordered her placed under house arrest and she is scheduled to appear in court on July 16.
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