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Charges against a Warsaw woman were upgraded to murder Friday and she is now being held without bond.
Beatriz Cuautle, who turns 29 today, will be arraigned on the new charge at 9 a.m. Monday in Kosciusko Circuit Court.
Kosciusko County Prosecutor Charles Waggoner said Friday that the decision to amend the voluntary manslaughter charge to murder was made after the preliminary report from the autopsy of Cuautle's newborn daughter was received and evaluated.
Cuautle was booked into the Kosciusko County Jail on the original charge on Tuesday after she was released from Kosciusko Community Hospital, Warsaw.
Authorities said Cuautle is the mother of an infant that was found dead Monday afternoon in a trash can at Kralis Brothers Foods Inc., 2601 S. Tinkey Road, Mentone.
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.
The 7-1/2-pound full-term girl was alive when she was born, Ladd said.
Court documents indicate 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 apparently 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 reportedly told the janitor she didn't feel well and that she would be in the restroom for a while. The janitor kept other workers from using the restroom during 1that time.
The infant was discovered in the trash can amid blood-soaked rags. Police said she had no vital signs when police and emergency medical workers responded to the scene.
Court documents include a taped statement that Cuautle provided to police. In the statement, Cuautle reportedly tells police that she was using the restroom when the baby fell out of her into the toilet. Cuautle reportedly told police she took the baby girl out of the toilet, wrapped her in toilet paper, put her in the trash can and went back to work.
A motive for her alleged actions is unknown.
It is believed Cuautle is a resident alien with valid immigration status and allowed in the United States legally until next year. However, Immigration and Naturalization Service is checking on the validity of her immigration documents.
Cuautle is the mother of four other daughters, three of whom live in Mexico, according to police.
Attorney Rosie Meza DeNuttle of Elkhart was appointed as pauper counsel to represent Cuautle.
