45°
Joshua Wooters, 19, and Emily Dickinson, 20, both of McConnellsburg, have been charged with felonies for criminal homicide and conspiracy, as well as misdemeanor counts of concealing the death of a child and abuse of a corpse, as stated in their court dockets.
The couple's arrests come after an investigation into a newborn baby found dead near the intersection of Lincoln Way East and South Second Street in McConnellsburg on March 11, as Daily Voice previously reported.
The infant was a white baby boy with brown hair and blue eyes. He was 17 inches long and weighed just four pounds. He was believed to have been born "less than 24 hours prior to discovery and estimated to be 36-37 weeks gestational age," Fulton County Coroner Berley L. Souders told us on March 20.
Pennsylvania State Police later found a bloody mattress and the placenta on the sidewalk.
Wooters, who lived in the area, was interviewed multiple times, always denying he ever had "S-E-X", as he spelled out loud to an officer in one interview, with Dickinson — but a search warrant on April 3 led them to DNA which later matched Wooters, Dickinson, and the infant.
During the search, police also noted that the bedroom and bathroom windows overlooked the area where the newborn was found dead.
When certified nursing assistant and former Washington College student, Dickinson, learned she was pregnant by showing symptoms, despite claiming to be on birth control, she began regularly searching Google for ways to "get rid of" the baby, as stated in the affidavit. She found multiple offices offering abortion and/or adoptive services but never contacted any of them, according to the police searches of her computers and phone.
In an interview with police, she confessed to never wanting to have children, according to the affidavit.
When she went into labor in the apartment bedroom she was "dizzy'; and "confused" but Wooters said she seemed to know what she was doing, as PSP investigators stated in the affidavit citing their interviews with the couple. After the baby was delivered she "was extremely confused and tired" she believes she was "hallucinating" so she "decided to throw the baby out the window," as stated in the affidavit.
She "picked up the baby as someone would pick up 'dog poop'," and used a kitchen knife to cut the cord before tossing it out the window, Wooters told police. His son's legs were wiggling, then he heard a "plump" as the baby hit the cement two floors down.
Wooters then yelled at Dickinson "what the f*ck did you do?" but then got trash backs and tossed the mattress seemingly helping her cover up the crime. Neither of them called 911.
The couple were arrested on Tuesday, June 25, and have been held in the Bedford County Prison after being denied bail “due to offense being Criminal Homicide with possible life imprisonment sentence,” as stated in their court dockets.
Their joint preliminary hearing is scheduled in Fulton County before Judge David A. Washabaugh V at 9 a.m. on July 10.
Click here to follow Daily Voice Laurel and receive free news updates.
