A loophole in state law is preventing Campbell County investigators from charging a woman they say killed her newborn baby.
Deputies were called to a home in the 1200 block of Lone Jack Road
in Rustburg around 11:00a.m. Friday. The caller said a woman in her
early 20s was in labor. When deputies arrived, they discovered the
baby had actually been born around 1:00a.m., about ten hours earlier.
Investigators say the baby was already dead when deputies got there.
Investigators tell WSLS the baby’s airway was still blocked. They
say the baby was under bedding and had been suffocated by her mother.
Investigators say because the mother and baby were still connected by
the umbilical cord and placenta, state law does not consider the baby
to be a separate life. Therefore, the mother cannot be charged.