A woman has been arrested in Pennsylvania after allegedly leaving her newborn child in a field shortly after it was born.
Jordyn Kauffman, 20, was charged on Tuesday, May 26, with first-degree murder in connection with her daughter's death, according to charging documents viewed by PEOPLE.
The 20-year-old also faces charges including aggravated assault, endangering the welfare of children, abuse of a corpse, concealing the death of a child and recklessly endangering another person.
Kauffman went to the hospital the day after the birth for treatment for afterbirth bleeding, according to WJAC. While she reportedly denied having been pregnant at first, she later admitted to troopers to giving birth at around 9:30 a.m. the day prior while sitting on a chair in her house, according to WJAC and Penn Live.
She cut her umbilical cord and held the baby — which was later determined to have been a girl — for about 30 minutes before taking her out into a field and leaving her there, according to WJAC and Penn Live, which cite charging documents. The temperature outside that day had a high of 49 degrees and a low of 44 degrees, according to WHTM.
Troopers went out to the field and found the baby dead, according to the outlets. She was found about 50 feet from the Kauffman's front door, with blood on her face, arms and chest and multiple bug bites on her body, per Penn Live.
An autopsy later confirmed that the child had been born alive, per WHTM.
After Kauffman took her baby outside, she went back inside and subsequently left for work. She told police that she knew what she did was wrong, but she did not want her father to find out that she had a baby for fear he'd kick her out, according to Penn Live, which cited charging documents.
Citing charging documents, the outlet reported that troopers also learned that Kauffman missed several appointments related to her pregnancy, including a scheduled induction, in the months leading up to the birth, telling staff at the hospital that she did not want to be pregnant.
She allegedly told troopers she did not go through with an abortion because “she felt like she procrastinated so long it was too late,” the outlet reported, citing the charging documents.
A Lewistown Geisinger Hospital worker told police that he had spoken to Kauffman on the phone when she was around 39 weeks pregnant about the Safe Haven law [which allows parents to legally and anonymously surrender unharmed newborn infants to designated professionals] and other resources, but she declined any help, per WHTM and Penn Live.
This monster will not get the sentence she truly deserves.
