Allentown mother accused of putting newborn baby in paint can will go to trial
ALLENTOWN, Pennsylvania (WPVI) -- A woman charged with killing her newborn back in 2017 will go on trial in March.
A judge made that decision regarding Ashley Caraballo on Wednesday.
Caraballo is accused of giving birth to a baby boy at her Allentown home, then wrapping him in a sheet and placing him inside a backpack, that was hidden inside a five-gallon paint can.
Caraballo originally went to the hospital for stomach pain and bleeding.
During treatment, the attending physician found evidence that Caraballo had recently given birth including placental tissue, a portion of the umbilical cord and specific internal injuries.
Allentown mother charged in death of infant found in paint can
"Injuries to the cervix in conjunction to injuries to the umbilical cord were consistent with damage, according to Dr. Avellini, which would occur where a baby was ripped out from a cervix that was not fully dilated," said Lehigh County DA Jim Martin back in June.
Caraballo denied she had been pregnant.
Hospital officials contacted the authorities, and the ensuing investigation led police to the North Whitehall Township home Caraballo shared with her partner and their five children.
Citing the medical examiner's report, Martin says, "Within a reasonable degree of medical certainty the baby was born alive and that the cause of death was one or a combination of asphyxia, blood loss and/or hypothermia."
Martin says police found a deceased male baby wrapped in a sheet inside a backpack within a five-gallon paint can in the basement.
She was charged with criminal homicide.
