Beatriz Cuautle hung her head and rocked back and forth in her chair during her arraignment this morning in Kosciusko Circuit Court.

Cuautle, 28, of 322-C Columbia St., Warsaw, is charged with voluntary manslaughter, a Class B felony, in the Monday afternoon death of her newborn daughter. Diana Kent, a Spanish interpreter hired by the court, explained the details to Cuautle after Judge Rex Reed spoke the English version.

Cuautle was booked into the Kosciusko County Jail at 10 a.m. Tuesday after she was released from Kosciusko Community Hospital, Warsaw. She is being held on $100,000 bond. If convicted of the crime, Cuautle could face six to 20 years in prison.

Cuautle allegedly gave birth to the baby girl in a toilet of a bathroom at her workplace and then placed it in a trash can. An autopsy revealed the infant died from asphyxiation due to suffocation. Kosciusko County Coroner Larry Ladd ruled the death a homicide.

Ladd said the 7-1/2-pound full-term girl "was born healthy, breathing."

According to a probable cause affidavit filed in the case, the infant's head was wrapped several times with gauze and a large wad of white paper, believed to be toilet paper, was found in the infant's mouth. A police report filed in the case indicated the wad of paper was larger than a golf ball and that the material wrapped around the baby's face was tightly wound and had to be cut off for an emergency worker to attempt resuscitation.

A janitor at Kralis Brothers Foods Inc., 2601 S. Tinkey Road, Mentone, alerted his supervisors that he heard a baby crying when he went into the bathroom to empty the trash after Cuautle had been in the room for about two hours. She apparently told the janitor she didn't feel well and would be in the restroom for a while prior to entering the room, and he kept other workers from using that restroom.

The janitor's supervisor discovered the baby when he reached into the trash can that also contained bloody rags.

The infant was cold and blue and had no vital signs when police and emergency medical workers responded to the 12:40 p.m. call to Kralis Brothers. Dispatchers were told there was a fetus in the trash can. The baby girl was pronounced dead at the scene.

Ana Villalon, head of human resources at Kralis Brothers, told police Cuautle complained of being sick during her morning shift and before she went into the bathroom. Villalon detained Cuautle in her office as the suspected mother of the infant.

In a taped statement provided to police, Cuautle reportedly said, "when she was using the restroom the baby fell out of her into the toilet," according to court documents. "Beatriz Cuautle said she took the baby out of the toilet, wrapped the baby in toilet paper and then put the infant in the trash can. (She) then went back to work."

A motive for the death is not known. Cuautle is a resident alien with valid immigration status and allowed in the United States legally until next year.

Cuautle is the mother of four other daughters, three of whom live in Mexico, according to police.

As is routine at initial hearings, a plea of not guilty was entered on Cuautle's behalf. It was determined that Cuautle is indigent, and Rosie Meza DeNuttle of Elkhart was appointed as counsel for the case. [[In-content Ad]]