Law&Crime Sidebar - Florida College Student Crushed Newborn and Threw Her in Trash: Indictment

Episode Date: October 22, 2024

Brianna Moore, 19, has been officially charged after her newborn baby died in a University of Tampa dorm room. Moore, who had returned to her home state of Mississippi, will be extradited back to Florida to face several charges, including manslaughter. Law&Crime’s Jesse Weber spoke with Hillsborough County State’s Attorney Suzy Lopez about the heartbreaking and emotional case.PLEASE SUPPORT THE SHOW: If you’re ever injured in an accident, you can check out Morgan & Morgan. You can submit a claim in 8 clicks or less without having to leave your couch. To start your claim, visit: https://www.forthepeople.com/LCSidebarHOST:Jesse Weber: https://twitter.com/jessecordweberLAW&CRIME SIDEBAR PRODUCTION:YouTube Management - Bobby SzokeVideo Editing - Michael Deininger and Christina FalconeScript Writing & Producing - Savannah Williamson & Juliana BattagliaGuest Booking - Alyssa Fisher & Diane KayeSocial Media Management - Vanessa BeinSTAY UP-TO-DATE WITH THE LAW&CRIME NETWORK:Watch Law&Crime Network on YouTubeTV: https://bit.ly/3td2e3yWhere To Watch Law&Crime Network: https://bit.ly/3akxLK5Sign Up For Law&Crime's Daily Newsletter: https://bit.ly/LawandCrimeNewsletterRead Fascinating Articles From Law&Crime Network: https://bit.ly/3td2IqoLAW&CRIME NETWORK SOCIAL MEDIA:Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lawandcrime/Twitter: https://twitter.com/LawCrimeNetworkFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/lawandcrimeTwitch: https://www.twitch.tv/lawandcrimenetworkTikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@lawandcrimeSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Wonderly Plus subscribers can binge all episodes of this Law and Crimes series ad-free right now. Join Wonderly Plus in the Wondery app Apple Podcasts or Spotify. Agent Nate Russo returns in Oracle 3, Murder at the Grandview, the latest installment of the gripping Audible Original series. When a reunion at an abandoned island hotel turns deadly, Russo must untangle accident from murder. But beware, something sinister lurks in the grand. View Shadows. Joshua Jackson delivers a bone-chilling performance in this supernatural thriller

that will keep you on the edge of your seat. Don't let your fears take hold of you as you dive into this addictive series. Love thrillers with a paranormal twist? The entire Oracle trilogy is available on Audible. Listen now on Audible. It absolutely breaks my heart to know that this baby girl could still be alive today. If this woman had alerted authorities that she needed help, College students in Tampa, Florida, say they woke up to find that their roommate had given birth to a baby and put the baby in a trash can. Now the young woman is charged with aggravated manslaughter and other serious crimes. We're going to discuss this heartbreaking case with the prosecutor, the state attorney for Hillsborough County. Welcome to Sidebar, presented by Law and Crime.

I'm Jesse Weber. Months after police say a University of Tampa student gave. birth in her dorm room and put that newborn in a trash can, she has now officially been arrested states away from her former college. 19-year-old Brianna Moore is in custody in her hometown of Quitman, Mississippi, and is in the process of being extradited back to Florida. According to prosecutors, Moore was living in a four-person dorm suite at the university where each girl has their own bedroom and they share a common living room in a bathroom, and we go back to April 27th where Moore's roommates called police because they say they heard a baby crying

and they saw blood on the bathroom floor. So paramedics, they come. The campus security, they come. They question more, but she said she wasn't pregnant and she blamed the blood on her menstrual cycle. The authorities leave, but then the next day, the roommates allegedly find a bloody towel in a trash can and they call the police again. When the officers unwrapped the they found something absolutely horrific a dead newborn baby girl officers confront more they read her Miranda rights and during an interview more reportedly confessed that she felt sick that she gone to the bathroom where she gave birth to a full term baby now she says the baby was crying so she held her

tightly to her chest until she stopped crying and more allegedly admitted she thought the baby was dead, but washed her off, put her on the bedroom floor before she fell asleep. She reportedly woke up an hour later and said the baby wasn't showing any signs of life, so she wrapped the newborn in a towel, put her in the trash can before she fell back asleep. Authorities believe that it's likely she was in denial about ever having been pregnant in the first place. And then this is where things changed. The autopsy determined that the baby's death was a homicide by asphyxiation. The newborn apparently had fractured ribs hemorrhaging on her lung. And when the investigation was ongoing, more returned to her home state of Mississippi.

Authorities got a warrant. U.S. Marshals arrested more at the end of last week, and that is where we currently sit. Now, we have seen cases like this before, and this sometimes becomes kind of tricky legal territory on charging mothers who do this or allegedly do this. And analyzing the law on too is kind of a murky territory. It's important story to cover because we're seeing this happen a lot. And I have to say, we're able to continue to bring you these really, really important stories and break them down because we get amazing support from our sponsors. And I really want to call out one in particular right now, Morgan and Morgan, fantastic partner for us here on Sidebar. Look, if you're injured, America's largest injury law firm, maybe who you want

in your corner. There's no upfront fee. The whole process can be done straight from your smartphone. It is super easy. And also track record. They have a track record of securing multi-million dollar verdicts and sediments. Recently, I'm talking verdicts of $12 million in Florida, $6.8 million in New York, and $26 million in Philadelphia. All of these, by the way, considerably higher than the highest insurance offers in these cases. And even if your case isn't worth millions of dollars, Morgan and Morgan can help fight for what you deserve. So if you're injured, you can easily start a claim at for the people.com slash LC sidebar. Now, Hillsborough County State's attorney, Susie Lopez, who we're going to be talking with in a minute, was emotional when she spoke with reporters about what is truly a grisly, grisly scene.

I've been a prosecutor for more than 20 years in my own hometown. I've gone after murderers. I've prosecuted international drug traffickers, the absolute worst of the worst. And this is a case that I struggled with. This is a case that has kept me up at night. It's both difficult and nuanced, and I did not take this decision lightly. This case has kept me up so many nights, remembering back to when I went out on the scene that Sunday evening back in late April. And I saw a bag sitting outside of a dumpster, outside of a dorm that I knew contained the remains of that newborn baby girl. In the days and weeks that followed, in my office, in the courthouse, even speaking with friends, so many people told me they would have taken that baby. They would have taken that baby girl into their home and raised her as their own. The bottom line, though, is this.

Brianna Moore took actions that directly led to the death of this newborn baby girl, and in doing so, she broke the law. I took an oath to follow the law and she will be held accountable for the death of this baby girl. She told police that after giving birth in that bathroom, she held the baby tightly against her. And then, when the baby stopped crying, she wrapped that newborn baby girl in a towel and threw her away in a trash can. It absolutely breaks my heart to know that this baby girl could still be alive today. if this woman had alerted authorities that she needed help. For crying out loud, there's a fire station across the street from the University of Tampa.

Tampa General Hospital is a mere two to three minutes away by car. This baby girl's death was completely avoidable. We need to remind our community about Florida's safe haven laws. In fact, they were expanded just this year. It means that if a woman gives birth to a baby that is not wanted, that she does not want, that baby can be surrendered to any hospital or any fire station with absolutely no questions asked within the first 30 days of that baby's life. So Moore was charged with manslaughter, child neglect, unlawful storage of human remains,

and failure to report a death. This case, of course, though, as you're listening to it, draws unfortunate parallels to another. horrific case out of New Mexico that we covered here on Sidebar. 19-year-old Alexi Treviso. We remember this one. She went to a hospital in Artesian, New Mexico in the early morning hours of January 27th, 2023, complaining of back pain. When hospital staff did test, they discovered that Treviso was pregnant.

Those results allegedly hadn't been shared with Treviso yet when she went to the bathroom. According to an arrest warrant, hospital staff repeatedly checked on Treviso until she finally emerged from the bathroom about 15 minutes later. And that's when they found a baby. in the trash. Medical staff explained the situation to police when they arrived. We did a pregnancy test on her, show positive. She was denying that she had sex.

Then she said she had to go to the bathroom. She went to the bathroom. She was in there for quite a while. We kept knocking on the door. Finally we got her to open the door and there was blood to everywhere. She was cleaning it up. So we took her back to the room and I was afraid that she knew she was pregnant. She had done something to herself. So the doctors started doing the vaginal.

started doing a vaginal exam on her. We had the lady come to clean the bathroom. She put the baby in the trash can, and then she put another clean liner over the top of it. Oh, wow. So when they looked in there, there was no trash in there, but it was underneath the clean bag. The baby's dead.

Okay, we have them in Toronto, too, but she killed the kid. Yeah, how old was the baby? I don't know, it's full term. She had it in the bathroom was what happened. And then she, whatever she did, I don't know, she's going to lie, she wouldn't tell she's pregnant. And police body cams, they were rolling when the doctor told Treviso and her mom that they knew what had happened.

We discovered a dead baby in the bathroom. Oh, my gosh. I'm sorry. He came out and me and didn't know what to do it. Lexi, I told you about this. I just asked you, baby, to tell me the truth. Scary. It was not crying her neckie.

What did you do to it? Okay, stop right here. Stop, stop. Number one priority, guys. Number one priority is she just had a baby. I don't know if she's delivered the placenta. She's bleeding significantly. Do you guys have, I'm the charge nurse or do you guys have any questions for me?

Like how big is the baby? It's full term. What? Nine months? Let's do. Let's see. Have you watched the news of the girls that, what they do to their babies and what they go to jail? Jill?

I was crying. In terms, I'm sorry about this, but in terms of delivering a baby and it looked like you tried to hide it, we do have to have the police involved. And nothing was crying. It came out with nothing. I know, I know. But the baby's going to have to be taken for autopsy and there'll be an investigator and everything. Now, Treviso has said she didn't know that she was pregnant, that the baby is going to have to be taken for autopsy and they'll be an investigator and everything. Now, Treviso has said she didn't know that she was pregnant, that the baby.

baby was a stillborn. And an examination showed that the baby, though, was breathing when it was born. So in that case, Treviso was charged with murder. She was charged with tampering with evidence. And for now, Treviso's trials on hold, her defense lawyer argued that the statements and the footage from the hospital were in violation of HIPAA laws. They also argue that once the police and doctor entered her hospital room, she was blocked so she couldn't leave. This was what they considered to be unlawfully detaining her. Now, a judge with New Mexico's fifth judicial circuit granted the motion to suppress. The district attorney fought back. They filed an appeal to the New Mexico Supreme Court asking them to reverse that decision. Obviously, they want this evidence in a

trial. It's important. And for Treviso, look, her trial date, which have been set for August, it's undetermined for now. So we do not know how this case is actually going to be decided. But clearly, it has these parallels to the case that we're talking about right now. All right now, I am joined right now by a special guest. I am joined by Hillsborough County State Attorney Susie Lopez, who we were showing earlier during that press conference announcing the charges here against Ms. Moore. Thank you so much for coming on. Really, really appreciate it. I have to say, I watched your press conference.

I got emotional. I could tell that wasn't easy for you. I could tell that this feels like one of those cases that is very personal. And you brought a lot of motion to that press conference. What was going through your mind when you were saying that? I had a hard time. I've had a hard time with this case since I went out to the scene on that Sunday night in late April. I go to most homicide scenes, but it's very rare that we have a child involved, especially a newborn.

And I stood there outside of the dorm at the University of Tampa, and I saw a bag that. that I knew, from what I learned, contained a full-term newborn baby girl. And so it was hard because in the weeks that followed, I had people walk up to me at Publix or grocery store in the courthouse, in my own office, who said, I would have taken that baby girl without question and raised her as my own. And so it was definitely very emotional to know that this woman made the choices that she did and that her actions contributed directly to that newborn baby girl's death what led to charges being brought so many months later what was the what was it difficult to assess whether to bring

charges and what those charges would be so it took us about six months but we wanted to make sure that there was not a rush to judgment and that we made the right decision when it came to charging the medical examiner's office did their due diligence in in uh issuing a final autopsy report The phrase, babies bend, they don't break, is something that you often hear when it comes to child abuse. And so there were things that needed to be investigated by the medical examiner's office. We worked hand in hand, of course, with the Tampa Police Department, as well as the fact that we hired two nationally known experts. We wanted to make sure that we got it right. And so we hired these experts who did their due diligence as well.

And so when the time was right, when we had done everything we needed to do, that's when we made the filing decision. And why charge her with manslaughter and not, let's say, murder? Because based on the facts that we have and everything that we had that was presented to us by law enforcement, of course, by the medical examiner and these experts, this was the appropriate charge. And that's aggravated manslaughter of a child. There's also a couple of other charges as well, including improper disposal of human remains and failing to report a death to the medical examiner or law enforcement. And just so we're clear, what kind of punishment could more be facing if she's found guilty? by a jury or let's say she takes a plea of some kind so that the main charge of course which is the aggravated manslaughter's punished by up to 30 years in the Florida state prison where the ball is

just starting to get rolling now she's not even made her way to Hillsborough County yet and so well we will go through the discovery process which can often take several months up to oftentimes when there's a death a year and a half to two years and so we'll be we'll be charting that course for the next couple of years to see where it is, whether she's going to decide that she wants to negotiate with the state attorney's office or whether she wants to go to trial on this case. In a lot of these cases that we've seen in the last several years, there's been pushback. There are those who say you're dealing with a young woman who maybe was scared, didn't know what to do, she shouldn't be criminally charged. I remember I covered a case

where you had a cheerleader in high school who was accused of murdering her newborn base. and there was a debate about whether the baby was still born or not, and she was found not guilty. A, what do you say to those people who maybe don't agree with the decision to charge Ms. Moore here, or those who might say it's going to be very difficult to find a jury that can remain impartial given this fact pattern? Ultimately, it will be up for a jury to decide whether she is guilty of committing this crime or not. But based on the facts that we have and the laws of the state of Florida, this is the appropriate charge. are options. And we want people to know that there are options. In fact, the state of Florida just fairly recently expanded the safe haven laws. So someone has 30 days after giving birth

to turn a baby in, to leave a baby at either a hospital or a fire station, no questions asked. The odd and sad irony here is Tampa General Hospital, which is our main hospital in Hillsborough County, is about two to three minutes by car from the University of Tampa. and there's a fire station right across the street. So Ms. Moore had options. She chose not to exercise those options. She, in fact, denied being pregnant when asked the day before the baby was discovered to the day that she had given birth.

And this case is factually different than that cheerleader because we know that this baby lived. We know that this baby cry because Ms. Moore's roommates heard this baby cry. So this is not a situation where Ms. Moore gave birth to a baby who was already deceased. She gave birth to a live, full term, about five. and a half pound baby girl and the actions that miss more took immediately following this birth directly led to this baby's death i know this is a difficult question but if you can clarify what you think those actions are that she took with this baby by crushing the baby against her chest the baby was the baby died as a result of asphyxia due to compression and so we know that

this baby did cry therefore this baby breathed at some point and in order to to hush the baby from crying, Ms. Moore crushed the baby against her chest. And ultimately, the baby stopped crying. And then Ms. Moore took her the steps to hide the baby and put the baby in a trash can and discarded her like she was trash. And what is, what's happening right now with extradition? Because she was ultimately arrested in another state. She's being brought back to Florida, right?

She was arrested in her home state of Mississippi. She has waived extradition, which means that our local authorities have until the end of month to get her out of Mississippi and bring her back to Hillsborough County to face the charges here. And have you heard anything about a defense? It's still probably really early, but have you heard any statements being made by her, her representatives, anything to indicate what the explanation might be to what happened here? You know, I don't know. And as I stand here right now, I don't even know if she has counsel. So we're in the very, very early stages of this. And when she gets back to Hillsborough County, a lot of things will be figured out.

Ms. Lopez, before I let you go, you mentioned that the rules have recently changed when it comes to, I believe, safe haven laws in Florida. Can you talk a little bit more about that? So in Florida, it used to be you had much less time, just a few days, to turn-in's not the right word, because that makes it sound like you're returning a movie to blockbuster, but to surrender a baby in Florida. and those safe haven laws have expanded significantly. So if a young woman gives birth to a baby and realizes,

I can't handle this, I'm overwhelmed. In Florida now, that mom has 30 days to take that baby to a safe haven. That's a hospital, a fire station, to say, I can't handle this. I need help, and I'm going to exercise the option that that mom has. Ms. Moore chose not to do that. Ms. Moore chose to take matters literally into her own hands and her actions directly cause the death of this baby. You might not know this, but I was curious, the father of the baby,

is he aware what has happened? Does he know what's going on? Have you communicated with him? The best that you can explain? I'm not aware of who the father is. Okay, okay. Listen, Ms. Lopez, this is a really, really tough case. As I said, it was difficult for me to hear the press conference.

I know this was going to be a challenging case to move forward. not only from a legal point of view, but from an emotional point of view. So I appreciate you coming on here on Sidebar, talking us more about this. And please keep in touch as this case progresses. We would, as I think we were talking about before, it's an important case. It's a really, really important case to continue to follow. And before I let you go, if you have any final words for people who are following this case or have seen cases like this before, what do you want them to know?

I want them to know that we exercised our due diligence in taking so long because we wanted to make sure that we, that we landed on the right charge, and we believe that we did. And the most important message is there are options. In Hillsborough County, for example, we have a wonderful place called the Crisis Center where people can call if they need help. But the safe haven laws are available, and there are no questions asked. And so had Ms. Moore chosen one of those options, I wouldn't be standing here today, and there would be a six-month-old baby girl who was living with somebody else right now.

Yeah, that's the... And being loved. That's the heartbreaking aspect of this. Susie Lopez, thank you so much for coming on. Really appreciate it. Thanks so much for having me. All right, everybody.

That's all we have for you right now here on Sidebar. Thank you so much for joining us. And as always, please subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Jesse Weber. I'll speak to you next time. You can binge all episodes of this law and crime series ad free right now on Wondery Plus. Join Wondery Plus in the Wondery app, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify.