A Pennsylvania woman could face the death penalty if she is found guilty of killing her newborn baby in the bathroom of a sports bar. Amanda Catherine Hein has been arrested and is being held at the Northhampton County Prison without bail, the New York Daily News reports.
The 26-year-old was at Starters Pub with three male friends when she started complaining of back pain, one friend, Luis Rivera told the police. She left and went to the bathroom and came out 40 minutes later with blood stains on her hands but asked her friends to ignore it and they did.
According to the Daily News, Hein allegedly went to the bathroom to deliver the baby boy and then suffocated him with a trash bag and put the body in a toilet tank. She then rejoined her friends to finish watching the game. They stayed for about an hour and then left. A worker at the pub made the gruesome discovery as he was trying to clean the bathroom.
"One of my guys was trying to flush the toilets to clean inside. They were having problems so he lifted the tank up and inside the tank was a fetus," Dave Rank, the bar owner told The Morning Call.
"I have been on the phone with the police, and I've been on the phone with my church," Rank continued. "I mean this is a devastating thing... it's very hard to go through."
Police discovered the baby was born in the third trimester and believe no one knew the girl was expecting a child. Her grandmother, who she was reportedly living with, was "stunned" to find out Hein was pregnant. The death of the baby has been ruled as a criminal homicide from suffocation and if convicted, Hein could face the death penalty.
According to police, it was easy to link the baby back to Hein because "of the large amounts of blood discovered on the booth reserved for Rivera."
"One of the booths had contained a large quantity of brown staining and liquid which was consistent with blood," Northhampton County District John Morganelli said in a news conference the newspaper reports.
Workers also said she was the only female with the group. Hein is currently being held without bail and her arraignment is scheduled for Sept. 5.
