Authorities in Webster County, Iowa have arrested a 31-year-old man and a 24-year-old woman for allegedly drowning their baby in a bathtub just moments after the child’s birth because they feared police would find methamphetamine in the baby’s system.
The couple, Brandon D. Thoma and Taylor K. Blaha were taken into custody on Wednesday and charged with one count each of first-degree murder in the death of young Kayleen Lee Blaha, Law&Crime reports.
Blaha reportedly went to Unity Point Trinity Regional Medical Center on November 22 where she met with an employee at the Iowa Department of Human Services (IDHS). The wamn allegedly said that she “gave birth to a baby at her residence and that it had been buried at an undisclosed location.”
The IDHS employee contacted the Webster County Law Enforcement Center and a detective with the sheriff’s office responded to the scene, according to a sworn affidavit of probable cause obtained by the news outlet.
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Blaha told the detective that she found out she was pregnant with Thoma’s child in April 2022 and that the two already have a 2-year-old son together. She also revealed that she gave birth to a baby girl in the bathroom of their apartment.
She told the detective that they had “no intentions” of keeping the child and were planning to let Blaha’s sister adopt the girl. However, Blaha said that she and Thoma soon became nervous their neighbors would hear Kayleen crying and alert law enforcement. They were scared that if law enforcement came to the home and found methamphetamine in the baby’s system they would lose custody of their 2-year-old son and decided to kill the baby girl, the affidavit states.
Kayleen’s body was never recovered. Investigators executed a search warrant on their apartment and recovered what appeared to be the portion of the umbilical cord, authorities said.
Both parents are currently being held in pretrial detention. Thoma’s bond was set at $1,050,000 while Blaha’d bond was set at $1 million, according to Law&Crime.
