Leticia Rodriguez, a teenage mother, has been charged with murder following the death of her newborn, whom she allegedly slit the throat of, and was apprehended while excavating a hole in the backyard of her Georgia residence for the purpose of interring the body, according to police reports.
Leticia Rodriguez, 17, is now charged with felony murder and felony aggravated assault with a weapon, with previous felony counts of concealing a death, abuse of a dead body, and abandonment of a dead body, as reported by the Marietta Police Department.
Officers arrived at the teenager’s residence in Marietta on Sunday and discovered Rodriguez excavating a hole in the backyard, alongside the deceased infant.
“We did see the mother of the deceased infant digging a hole in the backyard in an attempt to create that situation,” Marietta Police Public Information Officer Chuck McPhilamy said at a Monday press conference.
“The infant was never actually buried,” he clarified.
McPhilamy said Leticia Rodriguez had given birth in her home earlier in the day and had no one to help her. About six hours later, the new mom’s uncle found her digging a hole and called the police.
Leticia Rodriguez, who was in bad shape and required immediate medical attention due to the “trauma of childbirth,” was taken to Wellstar Kennestone Hospital for treatment, McPhilamy said.
A new probable cause affidavit obtained by WAGA revealed graphic details about the tragic incident.
The teen mom had admitted to police that she used a “sharp knife” to cut the umbilical cord from her baby’s neck after birth, “causing a large laceration” on the child. She then used a pocket knife to “cut out the deceased infant’s heart,” police said.
Leticia Rodriguez is then accused of wrapping the newborn in a blanket and then stuffing it inside a grocery bag to conceal his death for about six hours.
“The family has been cooperative with us through this entire investigation, and certainly, our hearts go out to them,” McPhilamy said. “We can’t imagine the trauma that they are going through.”
Neighbors told local news outlets that the family is from Guatemala and had moved in about two years ago, but that they had never noticed a teenage girl.
One of the neighbors, Theresa Neill, said she was shocked by what unfolded just across the street from her home.
“I’ve been here 30 years and nothing like that happened in this neighborhood as far as I know,” Neill told Atlanta First News. “It’s just sad that something like that has shown up and you know my heart goes out to anyone who loses children.”
After Leticia Rodriguez was discharged from the hospital, she was booked into the Cobb County Adult Detention Center and is being held without bond.
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