A Georgia woman is behind bars after allegedly giving birth and abandoning her newborn child in a trash bag outside her home.
Alaynah Marie Rappuh, 22, was arrested on Tuesday, April 1 in Bibb County, where she’s been charged with criminal attempt to commit a felony murder, reckless abandonment of a child, and first-degree cruelty to children.
Per the Sheriff, she’s being held without bond.
The investigation into Rappuh began the day before, when deputies responded to the Piedmont Macon Emergency Room in response to a woman who had “excessive bleeding.”
Per the sheriff, the investigation revealed Rappuhn was brought to the hospital by her boyfriend, who “noticed her condition at home.”
On their way out the door, Rappuhn allegedly left a trash bag on the back porch. When the boyfriend returned home to “retrieve some belongings,” a “noise caught his attention coming from the bag.” Inside the bag, the sheriff said he found an infant wrapped in towels.
This must have come to a shock to the boyfriend, as the sheriff said Rappuhn allegedly didn’t ever tell him she was pregnant or that she had a child that very day. She also allegedly didn’t tell anyone at the hospital she had just given birth when she got there for treatment.
Authorities said Rappuhn allegedly had the baby at 4:30am that morning, wrapped the newborn in a towel and put him into a trash bag. “Hours later when leaving to go to the hospital, she left the bag on the back porch,” said the sheriff.
The child was rushed to the hospital, with the sheriff saying the baby — a boy — is in critical but stable condition.
As the charges were read in court, Rappuhn said she understood the charges against her, confirmed her age and said she was a high school graduate. She also said she’d like a commitment hearing, or preliminary hearing, to determine whether there’s enough evidence to go to trial.
She appeared to have a question about one of the charges, but the sheriff cut off the video before her question was heard in full.
A man who identified himself as the father, Dimitrios Mason, told WGXA that he “forgave her already” for what happened.
“I see a different person, that’s not the girlfriend that I had. I don’t know what to say but I can’t stick up for her,” he told the outlet. “She did what she did and she has to deal with what comes with it.”
“I’m so sorry for her. I’m so sorry that my baby had to go through this. I just love them both and it’s a hard thing for me,” he continued. “I just pray to God, God forgives her, forgives the whole situation and that my baby has the best life that he could ever have. He started in a trash bag, but I’ll make sure he ends up on top.”
In a GoFundMe he started for his son, a boy named Tiger, he said that “due to unexpected events he is in now in critical condition in the NICU fighting for his life.” In addition to donations, he asked for “positive thoughts and prayers” for the newborn.
