Daycare Worker Charged With Murder After Giving Birth, Throwing Baby in Trash
A 20-year-old daycare worker has been charged with first-degree murder after giving birth in a bathroom at the child-care center where she worked, fatally injuring her newborn daughter to silence her cries, and stuffing the infant into a trash bag in a garbage can.
Stephanie Ubaldo delivered the baby girl on Tuesday, September 15, at Acorns & Oaks Child Care, according to a criminal complaint and Perry police. She had concealed the pregnancy for months.
After the birth, Ubaldo “intentionally caused injuries to the baby’s face in an effort to stop the baby from crying,” the complaint states.
She then placed the child in a trash bag and discarded her in a trash can at the facility.
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The infant, estimated at 32 to 36 weeks’ gestation, was born alive.
An autopsy by the Iowa State Medical Examiner’s Office found injuries and abrasions across her body and ruled the death a homicide.
Ubaldo intended to return to work immediately after giving birth and disposing of her daughter. But the killing was soon discovered.
Dallas County Emergency Medical Services were called around 5 p.m. Shortly after 6:30 p.m., a staff member discovered the dead infant.
Officers found the baby girl inside the trash bag in the garbage bin.
Ubaldo was arrested and charged with first-degree murder, a Class A felony that carries a possible sentence of life in prison without parole. She is being held without bail at the Dallas County Jail. A trial date has not been set.
Perry Police Chief Jim Archer called the charge “probably the most serious charge we have, you know. You can be sent to prison for life.”
The baby could have been saved had Ubaldo been willing to take one small step.
Police emphasized that Iowa’s Safe Haven law, in place since 2002, allows a parent to surrender an infant up to 90 days old at a hospital, fire station, health-care facility or Safe Haven Baby Box without fear of prosecution for abandonment. Perry has a designated Safe Haven hospital.
“We have a local county hospital right here in Perry, which is a Safe Haven Location,” Archer said. “There are numerous crisis pregnancy centers throughout the state of Iowa and resources available to those in need. We strongly encourage those in a crisis pregnancy to reach out, people are available to assist you, you are not alone.”
A police official noted another immediate option at the scene itself:
“There was an option right there to have given birth to a baby, left in the hallway, and no questions asked. It was that simple.”
Instead, authorities say, Ubaldo injured the newborn she had just delivered and threw her in the trash at a place dedicated to caring for young children.
