New York Woman Charged with Murder for Allegedly Dumping Her Live Newborn in the Garbage
A Staten Island woman has been charged with murder for allegedly disposing of her newborn baby in a garbage bag while it was still alive, PEOPLE confirms.
Nausheen Rahman, 28, was initially charged with concealment of a human corpse after police found the infant's body Saturday, the New York Police Department tells PEOPLE. The charges were upgraded to second-degree murder Sunday after the medical examiner determined the baby had been alive before it was placed in the garbage bag, police say.
Workers at Staten Island University Hospital North alerted police to Rahman after she walked into the emergency room Friday complaining of bleeding as a result of giving birth at home, reports the Staten Island Advance. Rahman allegedly told ER staff that she "threw away" the baby, the paper added.
The cause and manner of the infant's death are pending further investigation, a spokeswoman for the medical examiner told the Advance.
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Neighbors told WNBC-TV that Rahman has lived with her family for several years at the Honey Bee Condominium in Staten Island's New Springville neighborhood.
"I think it's terrible," neighbor Mike Stanganelli told WNBC. "And I'm shocked because this is a very good neighborhood. The whole complex is pretty close, too, so for this to go unknown, it's interesting."
