Woman charged with murder after ‘throwing baby down stairs in bin bag'
A 21-year-old woman has been charged with murder after she was accused of putting a baby in a bin bag and throwing it over a staircase bannister.
Amber Bowling, of Manchester, Kentucky, gave birth on Sunday but her baby was found dead outside her apartment building just three days later. Ms Bowling told police she put the crying baby in a trash bag before throwing it over an upstairs banister, according to The Washington Times. Paul Herd - a resident of the apartment complex - spotted the bag on Tuesday morning near the stairs to his second floor apartment after working an overnight shift.
His son Tyler, told news station Lex 18: “I couldn’t sleep at night knowing, just seeing what he’s seen, over and over in your mind again.”
Neighbour Sharon Wager said she “cried” at the news.
She added: “There’s no words to explain, there’s no words for what’s happened here.”
County Coroner Danny Finley said a preliminary autopsy showed that the baby died from injuries related to blunt-force trauma.
He said the baby appeared to have been outside in the bag for hours.
According to the arrest citation, the baby had a cranial fracture, fractured ribs, and the infant’s brain had bled.
Kentucky State Trooper Lloyd Cochran described the case as “heartbreaking.”
He added: “Baffles your mind thinking about who could have done this and why.”
Ms Bowling was arrested at 3.30pm on Wednesday and is being held in the Clay County Detention Centre.