Inset: Jocelyn Byrum (Rock Hill Police Department). Background: The 1500 block of Riverview Road in Rock Hill, S.C., where Jocelyn Byrum allegedly gave birth to a baby in a toilet after attempting to abort the child a day earlier (Google Maps).
A 20-year-old woman in South Carolina is accused of deliberately trying to induce a miscarriage while she was 27 weeks pregnant, with cops saying she texted a friend “my abortion pills came in” a day before the baby was born alive in a toilet.
Jocelyn Byrum, of Rock Hill, allegedly took the abortion pills she received in an “attempt to kill her unborn child” before giving birth to the baby on Nov. 12 at a home on the 1500 block of Riverview Road, according to court documents obtained by The Herald newspaper.
The young mother is charged with attempted murder and unlawful neglect of a child. Police reportedly provided details about her case in court Tuesday, including how she allegedly chatted with a friend about her plans to kill her baby.
“Yeah, get it gone,” the friend allegedly told Byrum in a text message.
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Rock Hill Police Department detective Tayler Englert said Tuesday in court that Byrum “admitted she took the medication to induce labor and terminate the pregnancy.” When the child was born, she allegedly snapped photos of the baby and sent them to her family members, the Herald reports.
According to local Fox affiliate WACH, Byrum allegedly called the authorities after giving birth to her child and confessed at the scene about what happened. EMS initiated lifesaving measures and transported the infant to a hospital for further treatment; the child is expected to survive.
Byrum reportedly cried in court Tuesday while hearing the allegations being made against her. A judge denied her bail and issued a no-contact order that bans Byrum and her family from seeing the child as her case is pending.
If convicted, the young woman will face up to 30 years in prison for the attempted murder charge and 10 years for unlawful neglect.
