IOWA CITY – An Iowa woman who tried to flush her brand new baby boy down the toilet and was charged with attempted murder and child endangerment charges plead guilty today to lesser charges.
Ashley Hautzenrader, now age 24 of Davenport, was charged with felony B attempted murder and aggravated misdemeanor child endangerment after she gave birth to a baby boy in a bathroom at the University of Iowa Hospitals in May of 2016.
According to a police report, Hautzenrader tried to flush the newborn and when that didn’t work, she stuffed the infant into a pillow case and put it in a trash can. The baby wasn’t crying, so she thought it was dead. The child survived and was found by hospital employees, but reportedly later died.
In Alford pleas, Hautzenrader pled guilty to felony neglect or abandonment of a dependent person and child endangerment. She could face up to 10 years and 2 years not he charges, respectively, in a state prison. She awaits sentencing at this time.
Hautzenrader failed to use Iowa’s Safe Haven Law, which has saved at least 28 babies since it was enacted in 2002.
