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A baby girl cut from her mother's womb was in good condition at a hospital on Thursday, officials said, and a woman arrested at a homeless shelter with the infant was to appear in court.
Thirty-five-year-old Julie Corey of Worcester, Massachusetts, was arrested Wednesday in Plymouth, New Hampshire, where police found her and a man with the child at the shelter. Corey was charged as a fugitive from justice and was to be arraigned Thursday morning in district court in Concord.
She was arrested after acquaintances became suspicious of her claims that she had just given birth, police have said.
The man who was taken into custody with Corey, 27-year-old Alex Dion, was released to a family member.
Body of mother found in closet
The body of the girl's mother, Darlene Haynes, was found Monday in a closet at her Worcester apartment. It was not until an autopsy that authorities discovered the foetus was missing.
A public records database shows that someone named Julie Corey lived in the same building as Haynes in the past, and an Alex Dion is listed as living in the same building currently.
Michele Hutchins, spokeswoman at Speare Memorial Hospital in Plymouth, says the baby was in good condition Thursday morning. She said the baby was brought in at 5:50 p.m. Wednesday and was days old.
Baby had ribbon around umbilical cord
"The baby had a ribbon tied around the umbilical cord - not your normal umbilical cord-severing device, and with that it's pretty certain this is the baby from the murdered woman," Lt Terry Kinneen, of the New Hampshire State Police, told WMUR-TV in Concord on Thursday.
Corey told acquaintances that she delivered the baby sometime late Thursday or early Friday at an undisclosed hospital, and by later Friday was showing the newborn off to acquaintances, police said.
"Some friends became a little concerned about how she got home so early after just giving birth," Worcester Police Sgt. Kerry Hazelhurst said.
Police said Corey had reportedly gone to New Hampshire to relocate. A newspaper report said she arrived at a Plymouth homeless shelter Tuesday night. She told workers there that the girl was 6 days old and identified herself as the mother, but had no information on the child, according to the Union Leader in New Hampshire.
Mother was eight months pregnant
Corey was arrested Wednesday as she tried to leave the shelter with the infant after workers alerted police and a nurse began photographing the baby with her cell phone, the report said.
Haynes was eight months pregnant. Her body was found by her landlord, William Thompson, who said a "horrifying smell" led him to her apartment, where he found her body wrapped in bedding in a closet. Her death was ruled a homicide.
The exact cause of Haynes' death has yet to be determined pending toxicology tests, but Worcester said the autopsy indicated Haynes suffered head injuries.
Police said the 23-year-old had apparently been dead for several days, and that she hadn't contacted family or friends since Thursday.Mother shared apartment with boyfriend
Haysha Toledo, a 17-year-old neighbour, said neighbours used to hear fighting from the apartment Haynes shared until recently with her boyfriend, Roberto Rodriguez.
Haynes had a restraining order against Rodriguez. Her landlord said Rodriguez moved out of the apartment last month.
Family members said she had three other children. Her youngest, an 18-month-old girl, is in state custody, according to Department of Children and Families spokeswoman Alison Goodwin. Family members had been looking after her.Karl Whitney, Haynes' uncle who is acting as a spokesman for the family, said Haynes' grandmother, Joanne Haynes, is raising the two other children, Jasmine, 5, and Lillian, 3.
He told the Telegram & Gazette that Haynes had picked the name Sheila Marie for her fourth child. (Bob Salsberg, Jeannie Nuss, Rodrique Ngowi, AP, Sapa, July 2009).
