According to police records, a Florida woman has been charged with manslaughter in the death of her newborn baby in 2022. The baby was found wrapped in shorts by his grandma.
On Friday, Bianca DeSouza—who was 19 at the time of the incident in 2022—was taken into custody. According to a probable cause affidavit, DeSouza was lying in bed in another room of her Boca Raton, Florida, home when her mother found the hours-old newborn on a bed by itself on May 2 of that year.
The mother told DeSouza that she thought the child was dead, but the suspect reportedly told her phone was going to die when she asked her to call 911.
The statement says that the child’s death was a murder and that the cause of death was asphyxiation.
A police report says DeSouza told them she was wearing shorts when she went into labor and that she pulled them to the side during the birth. The baby “came out of the right side of her shorts,” the report says. The statement says that when police arrived, they found the baby with his shorts around his middle.
“I had no idea what was going on.” The document says she said, “I gave birth.” Later in the interview, she said that after giving birth, she “kind of just sat there.”
DeSouza’s mother informed investigators that although she had considered ending her pregnancy, she ultimately decided to place the child for adoption, as per the affidavit. According to the affidavit, she informed investigators that she didn’t want the child because she didn’t think she would be able to raise him mentally.
She later told detectives, “I just didn’t do anything and I’m so mad,” according to the affidavit. “It was like my body stopped working.”
According to the affidavit, the adolescent had switched up her medication during the pregnancy, and the suspect’s mother claimed that DeSouza had bipolar schizophrenia and PTSD.
DeSouza most likely had a “psychotic break,” according to the mother, who expressed worry about finding the child a safe place to live, according to the affidavit.
According to court documents, she is currently being charged with both child neglect and aggravated manslaughter of a child. The court filings did not provide any information regarding pleas.