A Nashville woman was arrested for the murder of her baby daughter 10 years ago last Monday, after she called the police and admitted to the crime.
Nashville police received a call from Zohal Sakwall, 40 years old, and the mother of the four-month old Natalie who died in June of 2010. Sakwall called the department back in January in order to confess to the infant's murder. She was brought in by the police on Monday night and was charged will murder.
Aside from murder charges, Sakwall is also facing a felony charge unrelated to Natalie's case and she is currently being held on bonds which sums up to more than $200,000.
Metro Nashville Police Department has released a statement which said that Sakwall called the station on January 31, through the agency's Youth Services Division and disclosed to the detetctive that she was the one responsible for taking the life of her infant daughter on June 15, 2010.
She staged the baby's death as an accident 10 years ago
On top of their statement regarding Sakwall's confession, Metro Nashville police also disclosed that in 2010, Sakwall originally lied on the true nature of her daughter's death and staged it to look like an accident.
During her interview with the police at that time, she said that she laid down the child for a nap and when she came back to check on her, the infant was already tangled in a blanket and suffocated to her death.
After the alledged accident, the four-month-old Natalie Sakwall Robinson was rushed to the hospital and was pronounced dead. Since Sakwall has gotten rid of all evidence during that time, the information that the police had as well as the autopsy results led the MNPD and the Medical Examiner to classify the death of the infant as an accident.
Post-partum Depression may have pushed Sakwall to kill the baby
After her confession through the phone on January 31, Sakwall was also interviewed by the police in person after her arrest. In the police headquarters, Sakwall said that the reason she suffocated her baby with a plastic bag because she said that it was being a nuisance and that having a child has caused disruption in her life.
Some view the incident as a severe case of postpartum depression, which is a form of depression a mother experiences after giving birth. It is a clinical condition that interferes with the mother's ability to care for the baby which arises from a combination of hormonal changes and psychological adjustment to motherhood.
However, there is no proof as of the moment that supports that this is a case of postpartum depression. Especially since Sakwall has a criminal history that dates as far back as 2005 including multiple shoplifting charges, criminal trespassing, theft, and vandalism.
Sakwall is set to appear in court for the arraignment of her murder charges on April 8. Until now, it has not been clear yet why Sakwall decided to come forward after a decade.
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