Authorities accused an 18-year-old woman with capital murder after they claimed she placed her newborn baby into a trash compactor.
During a Thursday news conference, Will Benny, the city’s police chief, claimed Jakayla Ashanti Williams, 18, of Dothan, told her family she handed the infant off at Southeast Health Medical Center.
Benny stated that her family got concerned about the infant and phoned the hospital to ensure the baby’s well-being.
They discovered that Williams did not drop off the child at the hospital, which alerted police, according to Benny.
Williams gave birth around 7 a.m. on August 13, according to police.
A few hours later, she went to an apartment complex on Dothan’s west side “and placed a newborn in a trash compactor,” Benny said.
Authorities retrieved the baby’s remains as well as the trash load he was in.
Williams, according to Benny, told police she placed the infant in the compactor because “she didn’t want the child.”
“It’s just incredible to even believe because she knew, obviously, she could take a child, a newborn, to the hospital and drop it off,” the chief added. “But she chose not to do that.”
Benny described the claims against Williams, who is charged with capital murder, as “truly shocking.”
“In 27 years in law enforcement I never even heard of anything like this,” he said. “I never even heard of something as horrific as this. It shock the mind, it shocks the soul. I don’t really know what else to say.”
Benny stated that the child’s father received the same information as Williams’ family, namely that the kid had been dropped off at the hospital.
Williams’ attorney was not listed in court records.
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