LAKELAND, Fla. - A number of parents and students at Kathleen High School are shocked and saddened at the arrest of a 14-year-old student, accused of killing her newborn baby boy.
"Just sad. Sad. Cause you can always, you know, give the baby up," said a parent of a Kathleen student, who didn't want to be identified.
According to officials with the Polk County Sheriff's Office, the high school freshman killed her baby because she "didn't know what to do with it" and "didn't want the relationship with her parents to change."
"It's sickening. Never should have had a baby anyway. And she's still a baby herself. Yea, she's a baby herself and that's a shame, you know," said parent of a teenage girl, Mike Edmond.
Detectives say the teen went into labor September 19th in a bathroom at her home, took a pair of scissors to "pry the baby out", and then choked the newborn to death. Authorities say the girl's mother did take her to Lakeland Regional Medical Center that day, after seeing a mess in the bathroom, and the teen claimed she miscarried. The mother found the baby's body in a shoebox three days later. According to detectives, the teen admitted to choking the newborn. The baby was a full term, 9.5 pound boy.
According to detectives, the teen hid the pregnancy from her parents, however family members had told her mother they thought the teen may be pregnant. Polk County sheriff, Grady Judd, said the girl's mother was in denial.
"She probably was scared at one point, that's why she did it. But then again, it was bad on her behalf that she did it, and not telling anyone to help her out," said Kathleen High senior, Dikerria Wilson.
The case remains under investigation. The teen has been charged with First Degree Murder. 10 News is not identifying her or her mother.
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