A Pennsylvania woman gave birth in the bathroom of a sports bar, smothered the baby boy in a trash bag and then left him to die in a toilet tank — a crime punishable by death.
Amanda Hein, 26, of Allentown, has been ordered held without bail. She was charged with criminal homicide. In Pennsylvania, the intentional murder of a child under 12 is a capital offense.
The baby boy was alive and healthy — carried from 33 to 36 weeks — when Hein delivered him at Starters Pub in Bethlehem, Pa., on Aug. 18, the coroner said.
WPVI
Screengrabs of the bathroom at Starters Pub where Amanda Catherine Hein, 26, allegedly suffocated her newborn son and hid him in a toilet tank.
Hein was watching wrestling on television with a group of friends when her back began hurting, District Attorney John Morganelli said. She went to the bathroom for what seemed like a long time and returned to the table. One of her pals, Luis Rivera, told police that when Hein came back to the table, she grabbed her purse and then went outside to smoke.
Only after she and her friends left the pub did workers make the horrifying discovery in the women’s bathroom.
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Sue Bayer/ The Express-Times
Lower Saucon Township police investigate Aug. 19, 2013, after a fetus was found in a toilet tank at Starters Pub on Route 378.
Bar owner Dave Rank was in a state of shock.
“One of my guys was trying to flush toilets to clean the inside. They were having problems so he lifted the tank up and inside the tank was a fetus,” Rank told The Morning Call.
Rank was looking for answers. “I’ve been on the phone with the police, and I’ve been on the phone with my church,” he said while holding back tears. “I mean, this is a devastating thing.”
Sue Bayer/ The Express-Times
Starters Pub owner Dave Rank speaks with Lower Saucon Township police during the investigation Aug. 19, 2013, after a fetus was found in a toilet tank at Starters Pub on Route 378.
Police believe Hein realized she was pregnant in either May or June but didn’t tell anyone.
When she left her friends in the bar, she disappeared into the bathroom for about 40 minutes and ignored their texts asking her if she was okay. She eventually returned stained in blood, which she asked everyone to ignore. They did.
RELATED: NEWBORN BABY DUMPED IN A DRAIN RESCUED AFTER 40 HOURS
Sue Bayer/ The Express-Times
Lower Saucon Township police investigate Aug. 19, 2013, after a fetus was found in a toilet tank at Starters Pub on Route 378.
The group remained for another hour watching the pay-per-view wrestling match before Rivera drove her home, according to police. He told cops he asked Hein if she needed to go to a hospital, but she told him she didn’t have insurance and asked to be dropped off at her house.
When workers found the baby, they say they had no trouble linking it back to Hein because large amounts of blood had been discovered on the booth reserved to Rivera. Hein was the only female in Rivera’s party.
Hein’s grandmother, who lives with the young woman, was stunned.
Amanda Catherine Hein via Facebook
Amanda Catherine Hein reportedly excused herself for 40 minutes while she gave birth in Starters Pub’s bathroom.
“She can’t believe it,” neighbor Victor Rosado told NBC Philadelphia. “I didn’t know she was pregnant. She didn’t look pregnant.”
Police are searching for the father of the child.
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Amanda Catherine Hein via Facebook
Employees at Starters Pub say they traced the blood from the bathroom back to the booth where she was sitting.
Hein is due back in court Sept. 5.
“Whether it was 1 hour or 10 minutes old or 1 year old, it is a person, and this person’s life was taken,” Morganelli told reporters, adding that he had no idea what led her to allegedly commit the crime.
Pennsylvania, like 48 other states, has a “safe haven law” that allows parents to turn over unwanted babies to hospitals without criminal prosecution.
