Editor’s note: The following includes graphic content.
NUNN, Colo. (KDVR) — A Texas teenager was formally charged after investigators said she stabbed her newborn baby girl and killed her in Weld County.
Leiyla Cepeda was arrested and charged on Friday with two counts of first-degree murder after officers found a dead baby in a Nunn home Wednesday, according to the Weld County District Attorney’s Office.
Cepeda had just given birth to the child the same day police found the baby dead with stab wounds to the chest, according to an arrest affidavit.
According to the affidavit, paramedics told investigators Cepeda wasn’t feeling well and did not inform her family that she was pregnant. Cepeda told first responders she delivered her baby, who was not breathing, and used a small pair of scissors to cut the umbilical cord. Cepeda then took a shower, according to the arrest document.
Investigators found the newborn in a bedroom in the basement of the home, finding multiple stab wounds to the baby’s torso, and a pair of scissors with dried blood.
Investigators followed up with Cepeda and her mother at a local hospital. Cepeda’s mother told investigators she did not know her daughter was pregnant. When investigators questioned Cepeda, she told law enforcement she didn’t realize she was in labor until late in the process and delivered the baby early that morning.
Investigators noticed Cepeda winced several times when asked critical questions about what happened. Cepeda told law enforcement the baby wasn’t breathing when she gave birth by herself. When investigators asked her about anything else that may have happened to the newborn, she told them “no,” according to the affidavit.
When pressed about the baby’s stab wounds, Cepeda told investigators, “There is no reason for the baby to have any cuts,” and “I didn’t do it.” She reiterated she only used the scissors to cut the umbilical cord.
Investigators continued to press Cepeda about what she did with the scissors. After asking Cepeda how many times she stuck the scissors in her baby, Cepeda didn’t answer and her mother requested an attorney.
Dr. Michael Burson conducted the autopsy at the Weld County Coroner’s Office and concluded the baby was born alive and was killed by multiple sharp-force injuries.
No court date has been set at this time. Cepeda was 17 at the time of the killing but was charged as an adult, according to the DA’s office. She turned 18 on Friday.
Officers with the Nunn and Ault Police Departments worked the case with help from the Colorado Bureau of Investigation.
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