An Ohio mother and her 19-year-old daughter are facing a slew of criminal charges for allegedly suffocating a newborn and throwing the child in the trunk of their car.
Basma Abdul Karim Alkelezli, 36, gave birth on September 20 before allegedly putting her baby in a garbage bag and instructing her daughter Hanan Ahmad Al Jabouli, 19, to hide the body.
She then placed the infant in an orange 5-gallon bucket and hid him in her car, prosecutors allege. On Friday she admitted in court that she heard the baby crying from the car.
The tragedy was discovered on September 20 when Norwich Township Fire Department paramedics responded to reports of a medical emergency and later discovered that Alkelezli had just given birth but was not holding her child.
While Alkelezli was hospitalized, police visited the home and discovered a newborn baby in a car in the backyard, according to NBC4.
Both women face numerous charges and have pleaded not guilty. Alkelezli’s bail was set at $2 million and her daughter’s bail was set at $1 million.
Basma Abdul Karim Alkelezli, 36, gave birth on September 20 before allegedly smothering the newborn and instructing her daughter to hide the body
In addition to her mother, 19-year-old Hanan Ahmad Al Jabouli faces numerous charges, including aggravated murder, murder, strangulation or suffocation, child endangerment, abuse of a corpse and tampering with evidence
Franklin County Assistant Prosecutor Cory Helffrich said Alkelezki eventually told officers she was pregnant, but admitted, “They had moved and the baby would have been more expensive.”
Helffrich also claimed she told officers she didn’t even look at the baby and put him in a trash bag seconds after birth.
When paramedics were first alerted to the medical emergency, one person – apparently her daughter – urged officers to rush to the house but did not mention that she had given birth.
“My mom won’t wake up, I don’t know what’s wrong with her,” they told 911 in a call released by Hilliard police.
Paramedics reportedly found she was bleeding profusely but took her to the hospital without initially realizing she had given birth.
After prosecutors established that Al Jabouli helped her mother, Helffrich claimed she admitted to putting the child in a trash bag and then in the five-gallon bucket.
“She admitted that she could still hear the baby crying in the trash bag,” the prosecutor added.
It quickly emerged that she had done this and had also reportedly recently had her umbilical cord cut.
An official also noted that there was a language barrier between her and doctors, which may have caused the delivery to be delayed.
Alarmed paramedics alerted police after it emerged the newborn was missing. The police initially searched the house without success.
After moving to the back of the property and looking into a vehicle parked in the backyard, they made the horrific discovery that the child was abandoned but still alive.
Officers quickly began providing aid to the infant before rushing him to Nationwide Children’s Hospital, where he was tragically pronounced dead.
According to Helffrich, a medical examiner determined that the baby was born healthy before it was killed.
After a medical emergency was reported, paramedics rushed to the house and quickly rushed Alkelezli to the hospital before realizing she had given birth – but her child was missing
Neighbors said emergency responders unsuccessfully administered CRP and chest compressions to the child while a large police presence arrived at the property
The family members were indicted by a grand jury on Friday and now face a series of grisly allegations in connection with the child’s death.
They are charged with aggravated murder, murder, strangulation or suffocation, child endangerment, abuse of a corpse and tampering with evidence. They pleaded not guilty at a court appearance in Ohio on Friday.
Before their arraignment this week, the mother and daughter were arrested on Sept. 22 on charges of abuse of a corpse.
Hilliard Department Police Chief Mike Woods told reporters that officers were shaken by the alleged crime.
“All the officers that are here, most of them are parents, some of them here have newborn children,” he said.
“It’s very hard for them. I’m proud of them for doing it.”
A neighbor who witnessed paramedics trying to save the infant’s life told WSYX that a large police presence stormed the home and saw the child being carried away on a stretcher.
“They were doing compressions, you could tell by the way they handled the situation that it was a very small person,” they said.