WHITEWATER, Wis. — A woman who is accused of abandoning her dead newborn in a Whitewater field has been formally charged.
Santos Asucena Caseres Cruz, 39, was charged this week with neglecting a child - consequence is death and move/hide/bury corpse of child.
According to a criminal complaint, police responded to Twin Oaks Trailer Park in Whitewater for a report of a dead newborn baby on March 4. Officers were led to a cardboard box containing a black garbage bag and a light red cloth. Inside the red cloth was the dead infant. The individuals who called the police said they found the box in a field near the trailer park.
On March 23, the Wisconsin State Crime Lab sent photographs to a Whitewater detective that resulted from forensic imaging of the shipping label on the cardboard box. An address on the box led authorities to "Witness 1".
The following day, the detective went to Witness 1's workplace. During an interview, Witness 1 said their father believed their mother, later identified as Caseres Cruz, was pregnant by another man and accused their mother of having an abortion, the complaint says.
During an interview with law enforcement, Caseres Cruz initially denied being pregnant. The complaint says Caseres Cruz said the accusations came from her abusive ex-husband.
Caseres Cruz provided a buccal swab and consented to law enforcement searching her home and car. Special agents with the Department of Criminal Investigations found a black garbage bag, consistent with the bag the infant was found in, in her vehicle.
In a second interview on March 24, the complaint says Caseres Cruz admitted she was previously pregnant and gave birth on Jan. 27. She did not tell her children because she did not want to lose contact with them "because she was pregnant with a different man than their father."
On Jan. 27, she was having a lot of pain in her stomach and laid in the bathtub. When she gave birth to a baby boy, Caseres Cruz says he was not breathing, moving, or crying. After continuously checking the baby, she placed him and the placenta in a plastic bag. The complaint says she kept the bag open in case the baby started to breathe before hiding the baby under the sink cabinet.
The complaint says she modified her statement, stating she "knew the baby was alive when it was first born, but was possibly choking." Caseres Cruz allegedly stated after the baby was born, he started getting purple.
"His face started getting purple first, then as the night went on, his body, then his arms, and hands. She never helped the baby," the complaint reads. Caseres Cruz did not call 911 because she was scared.
When her other children were asleep, she retrieved the baby and placed him in a box on her bed and "cried all night." Early the next morning she drove to a field near the trailer park and left the baby behind. The complaint says she checked on the box every day and cried.
The Milwaukee Medical Examiner's Office was unable to determine a cause of death for the infant.
Caseres Cruz was arrested on Friday. She appeared in court Tuesday where a cash bond of $10,000 was set. She will return for a preliminary hearing on April 4. If convicted, she faces a maximum of over 37 years in prison and a $125,000 fine.
Mother arrested, accused of leaving dead newborn in Whitewater field
Jackson Danbeck | March 27, 2023
WHITEWATER, Wis. — Officers arrested a mother they believe abandoned a deceased newborn in a field in Whitewater earlier in March of 2023.
Whitewater police said in a statement they arrested a 39-year-old Whitewater woman, believed to be the mother of the deceased newborn.
Police forwarded the following charges to the district attorney's office:
- Concealing Death of a Child
- Resisting or Obstructing Officer
The police department did not release any other information, other than she was arrested last Friday.
Previous reporting: Newborn found dead in field, police say
Mariam Mackar | March 4, 2023
Flowers, toys and balloons are all part of a growing memorial on the edge of Twin Oaks Mobile Home Park.
Whitewater Police say they found a dead newborn baby in a field at the park on Saturday.
Officials say it’s an ongoing investigation—leaving more questions than answers for a heartbroken community.
“It just doesn’t make any sense. It’s devastating and I broke into tears,” shared Rebecca Wetter, a resident of Twin Oaks.
Wetter has lived in the mobile park for three years. She says, as a mother of three, hearing that news was unimaginable.
“I wouldn’t even bring my kids home [that night], because what do you tell your kids is going on over there? You can’t tell a child that they just found a baby out in the field up the street from your house.”
Wetter is one of many residents now left to wonder how this tragedy took place.
“Anyone in here I’m sure would have taken that baby in until it found a good home. There are safe havens, why couldn’t you have done that?”
Visitors to the infant’s memorial on Sunday dropped off stuffed animals and were moved to tears.
The Whitewater Police Department also reminds the public of Wisconsin’s Safe Haven for Newborns legislation (Wis. Stat. 48.195).
This law guarantees the rights of parents giving up custody of newborn babies, 72 hours old and younger, anonymously and confidentially. Newborns can be given up to a law enforcement officer, emergency medical services, or hospital staff members without fear of legal consequences.
The department released the following statement:
"The Whitewater Police Department also wants to ensure the public is aware of the Safe Haven for Newborns legislation (Wis. Stat. 48.195). This law guarantees the rights of parents relinquishing custody of newborn babies, 72 hours old and younger, anonymously and confidentially. Newborns can be relinquished to a law enforcement officer, emergency medical services practitioner, or hospital staff member without fear of legal consequences."
Whitewater Police are seeking any information that may assist in the investigation. Anyone with information should contact the Whitewater Police Department at 262-473-0555 option #4, or email our Detective Bureau directly at jbrock@whitewater-wi.gov (Detective Justin Brock) and aheilberger@whitewater-wi.gov (Detective Anthony Heilberger). Anonymous tips may also be shared using P3Tips.com.
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