Morning Mix

A newborn baby was discarded in a YMCA dumpster 13 years ago. The suspected mom is now in custody, police say.

By Gina Harkins
July 8, 2021 | Updated yesterday at 6:04 p.m. EDT

Police officers stood near a dumpster roped off by yellow tape in 2007 after employees at a southeast Pennsylvania YMCA discovered a newborn baby’s body in the trash.

The body was found inside a canvas bag, wrapped in a towel and plastic. The Lancaster County Coroner’s Office later ruled the baby girl’s death a homicide. She had been born alive, an autopsy found, but later suffocated.

No one was arrested in connection to the baby’s death for more than 13 years. The placenta and umbilical cord were also in the dumpster.

Now Tara Brazzle of Valparaiso, Ind., has been charged with homicide, Lancaster County District Attorney Heather Adams said in a Wednesday news conference. The 44-year-old woman told police last week that she had given birth to the baby in 2007, Adams said.

“She told police that she knew she was pregnant. She failed to seek any prenatal care for the baby and did not provide any medical care to the baby after giving birth,” Adams added. “According to Brazzle, she placed the baby in the trash dumpster located behind the YMCA several days later.” ... A court docket did not list an attorney for Brazzle.

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By Gina Harkins
Gina Harkins is the editor of Morning Mix at The Washington Post. She joined The Post in 2021 after reporting on the Defense Department for a decade at Military Times and Military.com. Twitter https://twitter.com/ginaaharkins