A mother in Nevada tried to smother her newborn baby with a blanket because she thought it was “probably evil”, authorities have said.
Ashley Hollingsworth’s baby was taken to MountainView Hospital in Las Vegas at 12.16am local time on Sunday.
The 23-year-old was later arrested and charged with suspicion of attempted murder and child abuse, the Las Vegas Review-Journal reported.
Her arrest report states that the child’s father told police that the baby was born at home and that “the mother refused to enter the hospital”. Police said that Ms Hollingsworth was found more than two hours later, suffering from major head injuries and that she was “bleeding profusely,” KLAS reported.
Investigators found that Ms Hollingsworth had given birth in a toilet about an hour before the authorities were called to the hospital.
The mother “had wrapped [a] blanket around the baby’s head and was pushing the blanket against the baby’s face” the police report states.
She “continuously talked about prophecies and other religious ideations” to nurses at the hospital, police said, according to the Review-Journal.
A witness told police on Monday that Ms Hollingsworth had said that there was “something evil” in her stomach that was “trying to kill” the child, KLAS reported.
She later told the police that she thought the baby was “probably evil”.
“After seeing the baby’s eyes, smelling what she described as an abnormal scent, and the baby grunting at her, Ashley decided to wrap the blanket around the baby’s head,” Las Vegas police said in their report.
Ms Hollingsworth was arrested on Wednesday and is being held without bail as she awaits a court appearance next week, KLAS reported.
