Baby Discovered Dead, Abandoned in Mich. Car — 9 Days Later, Mom Arrested on Previous Charges
A Michigan mother is behind bars after her newborn daughter, who she gave birth to at home, was found dead in her car 10 days ago, PEOPLE confirms.
Ashley Shade, 35, was arrested Wednesday on previous charges, nine days after police launched a search for her and her 6-day-old daughter, a Lansing Police Department spokesperson tells PEOPLE.
On March 18, Shade and her 6-day-old daughter were reported missing. The following afternoon, the newborn was found dead in Shade’s car. The baby didn’t have signs of injury or trauma. Her cause of death remains unknown.
The newborn is Shade’s seventh child, the Lansing State Journal reports.
The mother and baby were reported missing after authorities responded on March 18 to a call at Shade’s home about an unresponsive infant, according to Child Protective Services records obtained by the Journal. Upon arrival at the home, officers found two girls, under the age of 10, home alone — but no sign of a baby or Shade herself.
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When the girls’ father returned home, he told officers the newborn had been born in the bathroom, according to the Journal. Her family also said Shade had hidden her pregnancy, WILX reports.
The man also said Shade had called him earlier that day claiming “her baby was not breathing,” the records state, according to the Journal.
He told officers he returned home to find Shade crying and holding the baby, who appeared to be sleeping, the paper reports. Shade and the baby later went missing.
Shade is facing multiple criminal charges in several jurisdictions, the police spokesperson says. On Thursday she was arraigned for failure to appear in court for an assault and battery charge from 2016.
Shade is not facing any charges in her daughter’s death at this time, the spokesperson says. The newborn’s body is undergoing an autopsy and toxicology report. Child Protective Services could not be reached for comment Friday.
