A woman in Washington state faces murder charges after prosecutors accused her of killing her teenage daughter’s newborn baby.
Dayjanay Thomas, 31, received charges of second-degree murder and criminal mistreatment, coming months after she and her 14-year-old daughter reportedly arrived at Mary Bridge Children’s Hospital in Tacoma, Washington, carrying a deceased newborn.
According to court documents obtained by the Tacoma News Tribune, Thomas’s daughter gave birth to a boy in their home on February 10. The teenager informed her mother that she had not realized she was pregnant. Thomas later told police that she also remained unaware of her daughter’s pregnancy.
The teenager gave birth at home around 5 a.m. on February 10 and immediately told her mother about it. Instead of calling 911, Thomas allegedly told her daughter that they needed to wait for a friend to drive them to the hospital.
Thomas’s landlord, who owned the house where Thomas rented two upstairs rooms, arrived at the apartment around 11:30 a.m. Thomas then informed the landlord that her daughter was pregnant. Police interviewed the landlord, who stated that she had noticed the teen appeared pregnant. However, when the landlord raised the topic with Thomas, Thomas “did not take the comment seriously.”
The two women continued conversing inside the house for the next several hours before deciding to head to the hospital around 6:45 p.m. The landlord agreed to drive Thomas and the teen, who carried a cardboard box. Thomas allegedly told the landlord that the box was available in case the teen felt nauseous.
Police reported that the landlord told investigators she did not know the teen had given birth when she drove Thomas and her daughter to the hospital.
According to court documents, the body of the teen’s newborn son was inside the box. An autopsy determined that the baby was alive at birth and died from eight sharp-force injuries. The infant also sustained multiple blunt-force injuries to his head. Medical examiners classified the death as a homicide.
After medical staff notified police, detectives searched Thomas’s apartment and allegedly discovered blood on the floor stretching from the teen’s bedroom to a hallway bathroom. Investigators also found blood in the bathroom, clothes soaking in the sink, a serrated knife, and a pair of scissors.
Detectives recovered text messages exchanged between Thomas and her daughter on the day of the birth. One message, allegedly sent by Thomas, read, “Okay you have to let them know that [the landlord] and I didn’t know and just let them know you didn’t know what was going on with your body.”
Thomas was arrested on February 23 and charged with criminal mistreatment for allegedly failing to seek medical care for her daughter following the birth. After an investigation into the baby’s death, prosecutors added the second-degree murder charge on August 20 while Thomas remained in jail.
Neither the teen nor the landlord faces charges in connection with the baby’s death.
Thomas remains in custody at the Pierce County Jail, held on $500,000 cash bond. The court ordered her not to have contact with her daughter. Her next court date is scheduled for October 1.
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