After 9-Month-Old Was Found Dead, Her Mother Allegedly Told Cops, 'Everyone Come in, the Baby's Dead'

Megan Stack Sattizahn, 39, has been arrested and charged with murder in connection with the death of her infant daughter, Samantha Sattizahn

When North Carolina law enforcement officers came upon the allegedly “disoriented” woman, they followed her to her residence and found her deceased baby inside.

Megan Stack Sattizahn, 39, has been arrested and charged with murder in connection with her infant daughter’s death, the Catawba County Sheriff's Office said in a press release Friday, July 19.

Sattizahn is being held at the Catawba County Detention Facility without bond, according to the sheriff’s office.

Deputies were responding to a report of a suspicious person just before 5 a.m. when they say they came upon Sattizahn near Section House Rd. in Hickory, N.C. They followed the “adult female who appeared disoriented” the distance of about 0.7 miles to her own residence on Tanglewood Dr., the press release alleges.

Questioned near her residence, Sattizahn allegedly interrupted deputies, telling them: "Everyone come in, the baby is dead," according to the affidavit of probable cause obtained by PEOPLE.

"What?" one of the investigators asked.

"The baby looks dead," she allegedly responded.

Going inside, deputies found her 9-month old daughter, Samantha Sattizahn, dead inside.

Suspecting foul play, the sheriff’s office’s Criminal Investigations Division began investigating Samantha’s death and coordinating with the local district attorney’s office and medical examiner.

Sattizahn was admitted to a hospital, according to the sheriff’s office.

Per the affidavit of probable cause, Sattizahn allegedly told deputies that she had performed a “mercy killing,” on her daughter, telling them she did it because "God told her to."

It was allegedly not the first time she had tried to kill Samantha, according to the affidavit, which alleges that Sattizahn also allegedly tried to poison the infant with "crushed up anti-psychotic prescription pills" that she added to the baby's bottle in December 2023.

The baby was "doped up" and "lethargic" for a day after, per the court documents, which note that the alleged attempt on her daughter’s life was not reported to authorities. Similarly, the mother said "God told her to" hurt her child that time, too.

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Sattizahn had previously come to the attention of law enforcement for a previous incident involving her older daughter, WSOC-TV reported at the time.

In December 2017, Sattizahn – who then went by the name Megan Stack – disappeared with her 8-year-old daughter after picking her up from her elementary school in Mint Hill, a suburb of Charlotte, NC. Law enforcement feared for the safety of both mother and daughter, the outlet reported.

Two days later, the mother and child were found safe near St. Louis, Mo., after the mother dropped by an emergency medical services substation there.

Whitney Carroll, Assistant Catawba County Clerk of Court told PEOPLE in an email Tuesday, July 23 that: "This current case is the only one Ms. Sattizahn has ever had in Catawba County under that name or Megan Stack."

Search warrants have now been executed for all of the mother’s medical records, writings and phone records, WSOC-TV reports.

Neighbor Brent Hefner said in a recent interview with WSOC-TV that he had seen the mother pulling her infant daughter in a wagon.

“I saw them playing in the yard acting like a happy family,” added neighbor Kalen Bolick.

Sattizahn made her first appearance in Catawba County District Court Monday, July 22. She has not entered a plea to the charges.

Her lawyer, Sean Devereux, could not be immediately reached for comment.

If you suspect child abuse, call the Childhelp National Child Abuse Hotline at 1-800-4-A-Child or 1-800-422-4453, or go to www.childhelp.org. All calls are toll-free and confidential. The hotline is available 24/7 in more than 170 languages.

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