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Shaniqua D. Caldwell (Warren County Detention Center)
A 35-year-old woman in Kentucky is accused of trying to covertly give birth to a baby inside an IHOP bathroom stall, then attempting to flush the child down the toilet before fleeing the scene.
Shaniqua D. Caldwell was taken into custody Wednesday evening and charged with one count of concealing the birth of an infant, according to an arrest citation obtained by Law&Crime.
According to the document, officers with the Bowling Green Police Department and emergency medical services personnel at just after 8 p.m. on May 29 responded to an IHOP restaurant in the 3200 block of Scottsville Road. Police and EMS were dispatched to the location after receiving 911 calls initially claiming that a woman was seen bleeding in the bathroom and had possibly just suffered a miscarriage.
As the call continued, the caller told the emergency dispatcher that they saw a baby in the toilet and that the woman the caller believed had just given birth had also “attempted to flush the baby down the toilet,” police said.
Upon arriving at the scene, first responders spoke with several witnesses who also confirmed that the woman appeared to have tried to flush the newborn down the toilet. Those witnesses provided officers with a description of the woman, whom they said exited the restaurant on foot immediately after the incident.
Inside the bathroom, authorities found the baby, which was already deceased. It was not immediately clear whether the infant was born alive. Police noted that an autopsy of the child is still pending.
Officers were able to locate Caldwell in the parking lot of a Red Roof Inn located nearby where she refused medical treatment from EMS personnel. She also made a number of outlandish claims, including that she had not had intercourse in at least six years and was related to both Michael Jordan and Denzel Washington.
“Based off my interactions with Caldwell, I was concerned with her mental state,” police wrote in the affidavit. “I also was concerned for her welfare when she refused any medical treatment after likely just giving birth to a child.”
Caldwell was taken into custody and transported via ambulance to Bowling Green Hospital for an emergency mental health evaluation. In subsequent talks with police, Caldwell was unable or unwilling to provide personal identifying information, saying only that she was from New York and in town on business.
After being released from the hospital, Caldwell was processed and transported and booked into the Warren County Detention Center where she is currently being held on $2,500 bond, records show.
The concealing charge she is currently facing is a Class A misdemeanor punishable by up to 12 months in jail and a maximum fine of $500. However, authorities noted that the investigation into the newborn’s manner of death remains ongoing and additional charges may be brought against Caldwell.
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