Background: A section of Flat Mary Road in or around Campton, Kentucky (Google Maps). Inset: Melinda Spencer (Three Forks Regional Jail).
A Kentucky woman is accused of taking medication to cause the death of her unborn son — and then burying him in her backyard “in a shallow grave.”
Melinda Spencer, 35, has been charged with first-degree fetal homicide, abuse of a corpse, tampering with physical evidence, and first-degree promoting contraband, records from the Three Forks Regional Jail show. The defendant was locked up there on Thursday.
According to Trooper Zach Haney with the Kentucky State Police, a woman was at the United Clinic in Campton, Kentucky, and “disclosed that she had aborted her pregnancy at her residence on Flat Mary Road.” Employees of the clinic contacted the state police on Wednesday at about 2:30 p.m., and an investigation was launched.
Abortion is essentially banned in Kentucky, with it only being permitted if the mother is at risk of death or serious injury. The state is considered among the “most restrictive” in terms of abortion policies, per the Guttmacher Institute.
Investigators interviewed the woman — identified as Spencer — and she allegedly told them that “she had ordered medication online to complete an abortion.” She had taken the medication, “which resulted in the death of a developed male infant.” She then “buried the infant on the backside of her property in a shallow grave.”
Another alleged admission came out during the interview. According to Lexington-based CBS affiliate WKYT, Spencer “advised the baby was not her boyfriend”s and she did not want him to find out she was pregnant.” She reportedly added that she began taking the medication on Dec. 26, 2025, and “delivered the fetus” the very next day.
Following the interview with Spencer, law enforcement traveled to her home on the 3700 block of Flat Mary Road, and they found the infant “in a shallow grave just as Ms. Spencer had stated.” Inside the grave was a white grocery sack filled with a light bulb box wrapped in Christmas wrapping paper, regional Fox affiliate WDKY reported, and the child’s remains were wrapped in a white rag.
Spencer was arrested, and the case remains under investigation, Haney noted on Thursday.
According to local news outlets such as WKYT, an autopsy was slated to be performed to determine the child’s gestational age — or how long he had been growing inside his mother’s womb.
First-degree fetal homicide is defined per Kentucky law as a capital offense.
