An Iowa woman who tossed her newborn son away in 2023 is scheduled for sentencing this month.
Law&Crime reports that Megan Staude pleaded guilty earlier this year to second-degree murder. She took a plea deal with the prosecution, which dropped her initial charge of first-degree murder.
As CrimeOnline previously reported, Megan Staude confessed in 2023 to putting her newborn infant in a box without providing him care, after she gave birth at home.
She and her father, Rodney Staude, allegedly told police that after two days with the infant crying off and on, they put him in a trash bag, alive.
They later disposed of the child in the ditch, despite state laws permitting them to leave him at designated facilities without legal repercussions.
The Safe Haven Act in Iowa “allows parents – or another person who has the parent’s authorization – to leave an infant up to 90 days old at a hospital, health care facility, a fire station, through a newborn safety device, or to an Adoption Service Provider without fear of prosecution for abandonment.”
Police were alerted to the incident after Megan Straude’s co-workers noticed she was no longer pregnant. She initially told police that the baby died while en route to the hospital, and that she buried him at the St. John’s Cemetery in Cumming.
The Des Moines Register reports that police searched the cemetery and “did not notice any disturbed ground or signs of a fresh burial.”
Rodney Staude, who initially backed up his daughter’s story, eventually confessed and let police to the 5300 block of Delaware Street, near Norwalk.
Norwalk Police Chief Greg Staples reportedly said that cadaver dogs with rescue group Iowa SAR K9 then found the infant covered in snow.
Police also found evidence inside the Staude home that someone had given birth there.
“Safe Haven laws are there for a reason,” Staples said. “It is a shame that because the Safe Haven laws weren’t used in this case we have the death of a newborn and two people in jail charged with the most serious crime that there is.”
“If there’s one thing that’s good that comes out of this investigation, it’s that someone pregnant out there will see this story and their baby will have a life to live unlike this baby.”
Rodney Staude is currently facing a first-degree murder charge and is scheduled for trial in October.
Megan Staude’s hearing is set for September 22. She faces up to 50 years in prison.
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[Feature Photo: Megan Staude, left, and Rodney Staude/Warren County Jail]
