A Florida woman is facing first-degree murder charges for allegedly killing her newborn twins within hours of giving birth.
According to Florida Today, Rachael Lynn Thomas, 30, is accused of killing her twin infants—a boy and girl—then throwing the newborn girl in the trash. Thomas reportedly told officers that she didn’t know she was pregnant until she gave birth on the toilet.
“I had a baby, and then I passed out. Now the baby’s not responding and I don’t know what to do,” Thomas told 911 dispatchers Sunday. “It’s not doing anything. It’s cold and it’s blue.”
Thomas reportedly told officers that one of the babies fell into the toilet and she wrapped him a blue T-shirt. The baby, called “Baby John” in documents, was pronounced dead at the hospital, the Orlando Sentinel reported.
Florida Today noted that Thomas only reported Baby John’s death; it came to light that she had twins after detectives located Baby Jane’s body in a waste management bin near Thomas’ home. According to WKMG, Thomas told investigators that she panicked and didn’t recall putting Baby Jan in the trash. A warrant alleged that a plastic bag containing the newborn’s body was buried under another trash bag.
Preliminary autopsy results revealed that both children were carried for 39 weeks and healthy at birth. The children’s causes of death were homicide; both children showed evidence of suffering blunt-force trauma and the girl had her umbilical cord wrapped around her throat and was asphyxiated with a “foreign object being forced” into her mouth, the medical examiner’s report stated.
“Ms. Thomas said neither child ever opened their eyes or made any movements,” police wrote.
Thomas was charged with first-degree murder, felony murder, and two counts of aggravated child abuse and is being held without bond. Her 8-year-old and 1-year-old sons have been placed in protective custody.
[Featured Image: Rachael Lynn Thomas/West Melbourne Police Department]