Inset: Anne Mae Demegillo (Flagler County Sheriff”s Office). Background: Cops investigate after Demegillo allegedly gave birth to a baby in a toilet and watched her drown (WOFL).
A 20-year-old Florida woman allegedly gave birth to a baby and watched the girl drown in a toilet before she went about her normal day including performing in a college play.
Anne Mae Demegillo, 20, stands accused of aggravated manslaughter of a child, according to the Flagler County Sheriff’s Office. Deputies responded around 4 a.m. Friday to a welfare check on a woman later identified as Demegillo after a 911 caller told dispatchers that the defendant wrote in messages to the caller that she had unexpectedly given birth at the home.
The baby had been born alive and crying but “Demegillo had done something to the infant,” the caller allegedly told cops. When deputies arrived at the home, they spoke with Demegillo who said she was “not sure she was pregnant” and began experiencing “severe abdominal pain” around 3 a.m. Friday.
She delivered the baby into the toilet, she told cops. She claimed the baby was dead, but detectives determined the baby was alive at birth and Demegillo allegedly watched the infant drown in the toilet.
Demegillo then put the baby in a duffel bag and hid it in a closet before going to a theater in New Smyrna Beach where she performed as “Virtue” in the play “Anything Goes,” police said.
After returning home, she wrapped the infant in a blanket and buried the child in a 4- to 5-inch grave in the backyard, cops said.
“At no point did Demegillo contact emergency services for assistance,” cops wrote.
Chief Deputy Joseph Barile told reporters at a press conference that the baby girl weighed about 3 pounds and 6 ounces and was around 18 inches long.
Barile was asked about the suspect’s demeanor during her interview with cops.
“Oddly calm,” he said. “I watched some of the interview and I didn’t see any remorse.”
Authorities noted that Demegillo could have dropped the baby off at a hospital or fire station — no questions asked.
“This is a heartbreaking tragedy for our community, for the family involved, and an emotionally difficult case for our team,” Sheriff Rick Staly said in a statement. “I want to remind our community, especially our expectant mothers: Florida law allows you to bring a child at birth to a local fire station, hospital or law enforcement agency and surrender the child. That is a much better solution than what we are investigating today — for everyone involved, but most importantly the infant who was prevented from the life they deserve. May God bless this infant and hold and comfort the baby in his loving hands with the love the baby never received on earth.”
