Newborn baby found dead on University of Tampa campus
An abandoned newborn baby was found dead in a garbage bin on the University of Tampa’s campus on Sunday evening, police said.
Tampa police responded shortly before 7 p.m. to a report about a dead infant near McKay Hall, according to a news release. Officers responded to the campus at 401 W. Kennedy Blvd. and found the body of a newborn girl wrapped in a towel inside a garbage bin.
Police located the child’s mother and she was taken to a local hospital. A Tampa police spokesperson said the mother is a student at the university and is in her late teens.
It was unclear if she could face criminal charges. Investigators were waiting for the results of an autopsy to determine the baby’s cause of death and her “developmental stage,” the release said.
“The loss of a child is always a tragedy,” Tampa police Chief Lee Bercaw said in a statement included in the news release. “As our department actively investigates this incident, we want all expectant mothers to know there are resources available.”
The university sent a text alert at 11:41 p.m. Sunday saying that “there is currently an active TPD investigation in the McKay Hall area” and to “avoid the marked areas.”
“There is no danger to the University community,” the alert said.
McKay Hall is a dorm building on the east side of campus that houses 160 students, according to the university’s website.
The university released a brief statement on Monday.
“The University is cooperating with TPD on the investigation and is offering counseling and resources to the campus community,” the statement said.
Later Monday, two university officials sent a message addressed to “the University of Tampa community.”
“As more details about this investigation emerge, we recognize the University community may have a wide variety of emotional responses to this event,” the message said. “We want to reiterate that there is no danger to the campus community but recognize that, even in the absence of danger, there still may be impact.”
The message included a list of resources available, such as on-campus counseling, a 24-hour crisis line and the employment assistance program for faculty and staff. The message was signed by Stephanie Russell Krebs, vice president, student affairs and strategic initiatives; and Monnie Wertz, vice president of operations.
The police news release noted that Florida’s Safe Haven law allows parents to anonymously surrender an unharmed newborn infant seven days old or younger to any fire station, EMS station or hospital staffed by full-time emergency medical technicians, paramedics or firefighters.
“There will be no questions asked, and no charges will be filed for surrendering a newborn under the Safe Haven Law unless the infant has signs of abuse or neglect,” the release said.
Expectant mothers who need resources can find them at The Crisis Center of Tampa Bay by calling 211, the Florida Department of Health at 850-245-4047 or The National Safe Haven Alliance Hotline at 888-510-BABY (2229).
The Florida Legislature this year passed a bill that would increase the age limit for a parent to surrender an infant to 30 days old.
“This gives parents more time to make a decision, potentially preventing the unsafe abandonment of infants older than 7 days,” according to an analysis of the bill, HB 775.
Among other provisions, the bill also allows a parent, after delivery of an infant in a hospital, to leave the infant with hospital medical staff.
Gov. Ron DeSantis has not yet signed the bill, which automatically becomes law on July 1 unless he vetoes it.
According to the analysis, Florida approved the initial law in 2000 in response to cases of newborn abandonment at unsafe locations such as public restrooms or trash receptacles. Since then, about 380 newborns have been surrendered at a safe haven in Florida.
In the same period, 63 infants are known to have been unsafely abandoned. Of those, 31 survived and 32 died.
