Pennsylvania mother faces manslaughter charges after newborn baby died from window
A Pennsylvania woman and the father of her newborn child have been arrested nearly four months after police accused her of throwing the newborn out of a second-story window and killing him.
Emily Jane Dickinson, 20, and Joshua Coleman Wooters, 19, are charged with manslaughter in connection with the baby’s death March 11 in McConnellsburg, according to court documents obtained by USA TODAY.
McConnellsburg is a borough in Fulton County, about 125 miles east of Pittsburgh.
Court records from the 39th Judicial District show that in addition to the killing, Dickinson and Wooters were charged with conspiracy to commit murder, covering up the death of a child and desecration of a corpse, a second-degree misdemeanor.
Wooters is also accused of obstructing prosecution.
Dickinson and Wooters are scheduled to appear before Magistrate Judge David A. Washabaugh for a preliminary hearing on July 10, court records show.
Pennsylvania State Police believe the murder occurred immediately after the baby was born.
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Police find dead baby at intersection
According to a criminal complaint obtained by USA TODAY, police found the dead baby at an intersection along with other items, including the placenta, a garbage bag and a blood-stained mattress cover.
The 4-pound baby was less than 24 inches long and was believed to be 36 weeks pregnant, reported the Pocono Record, part of the USA TODAY Network.
Dickinson, police said in their complaint, allegedly told officers that she believed her newborn son was deformed and had already died before she threw him out the window. But during questioning with Wooters, he told officers the baby was alive.
Dickinson also told them that she may have been hallucinating at the time of the crime.
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During investigations, blood was found in the bathroom
According to charging documents, after finding the baby dead at the scene, police searched the neighborhood and spoke with Wooters, who initially denied knowing anything about the baby or its death.
Then, the lawsuit says, in April a search warrant was issued for his apartment, which faces the street where the baby was found. During a search, officers found blood in a bedroom, on a mattress, in the bathroom and on the bathroom windowsill.
According to the complaint, Dickinson told police that she woke up in labor, alerted Wooters and then gave birth in bed.
Wooters, the complaint goes on to say, told police he went to the bathroom until the baby was born and at some point heard it crying.
Dickinson “rocked the baby to calm it and then cut the umbilical cord with a kitchen knife,” court documents say.
Wooters, police wrote in the complaint, said Dickinson then walked past him in the bathroom and threw the baby out the window of his second-story apartment.
Dickinson then told police she “went to sleep after giving birth and cleaning up.”
Both defendants are being held without bail
According to court records, Wooters is represented by Phillip Harper of the public defender’s office and Dickinson is represented by Jill Devine.
USA TODAY has contacted both lawyers.
Both defendants were booked into jail on June 25 and were being held without bail on Monday, a Fulton County Sheriff’s Office spokesman told USA TODAY.
Contributors: Damon C. Williams
Natalie Neysa Alund is a senior reporter at USA TODAY. Reach her at [email protected] and follow her on X @nataliealund
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