A Norwalk woman has pleaded guilty to second-degree murder after allegedly assisting her father in placing her neglected newborn baby in a trash bag and abandoning him in a roadside ditch.
Norwalk police arrested Megan K. Staude, 26, and her father, Rodney A. Staude, 66, in March 2023 and charged them with first-degree murder. According to police, the investigation began after Megan Staude’s coworkers called to inquire about the newborn’s health and safety.
They stated her father, who was later deemed unable to face trial, initially denied knowledge of the delivery before claiming the infant died on the way home from the hospital.
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According to the police complaint, he then placed the deceased baby in a garbage bag and disposed of the body “in a ditch south of Norwalk.” He led police to the 5300 block of Delaware St., where they located the deceased newborn’s body in a knotted trash bag with a cadaver dog.
Police acquired a search warrant for the family home in Norwalk and discovered traces of a birth. A witness also contacted Megan Staude, asking, “Was the baby alive when you left him?” She responded, “a little,” according to the lawsuit.
Staude then confessed to giving birth at home on February 24, placing her kid in a box, and failing to care for him, according to the police complaint. She also allegedly informed police that, after two days, she assisted her father in placing the baby in the garbage bag.
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She pled not guilty and was due to stand trial this month. However, at a court hearing Wednesday, she pled guilty to second-degree murder, according to court records. District Judge Charles Sinnard accepted the plea as per desmoinesregister.
Staude was being kept in the Warren County Jail awaiting sentencing, which had yet to be scheduled. A status conference is scheduled for late August.