Baby’s body found in trash bag at Harrah’s

Keith Paul

Tuesday, May 22, 2001 | 10:27 a.m.

An autopsy will be conducted to determine whether a baby whose body was found in a trash bag at Harrah's hotel-casino Monday was alive when he was born.

The body of the newborn boy was found inside a plastic bag that had been placed inside a larger plastic trash bag. Republic Services of Southern Nevada workers found the baby's body about 12:40 p.m. while going through trash bags to sort recyclable material, Lt. Wayne Petersen of Metro Police's homicide unit said.

Police were trying to determine where the bag containing the baby's body originated, although they believe it came from the hotel, Petersen said.

Detectives are working with Harrah's security and staff, but there was no report of a housekeeper finding towels or sheets containing blood or birthing fluids.

No signs of obvious trauma were found on the baby, Petersen said.

The state Legislature is considering a measure aimed at preventing the killing of unwanted newborns.

Senate Bill 191, already passed in the Senate, could get a vote in the Assembly as soon as today. It would allow a parent to take a baby fewer than 30 days old to a police station, fire station or emergency medical facility and abandon the child without questions.

Parents would have to give the baby to an official and state that they are abandoning the newborn. Parents could also leave the newborn in a bassinet on the doorstep of one of the facilities, but they would be required to call to inform someone the baby was there and their intent was to abandon the child.

Parents would not be prosecuted and the child would be put up for adoption.

Meanwhile, the Knights of Columbus are planning to hold a funeral service for the newborn once the coroner finishes with the autopsy. Details on the service have not been made yet.

"When no one comes forward for this child, we make the arrangements and have a service," said Don Jaye, state public relations director for the Knights of Columbus.

The Knights of Columbus have arranged services for five other newborns found dead in the area. Jaye said the group has decided to name the newborn found in Harrah's Francis, after two local priests.

Monday's discovery marked the second time this year that a baby was found discarded in the trash. On Feb. 6 about 8:30 a.m. the body of a newborn boy was found in a trash bin outside a convenience store at Olive and Atlantic streets.

An autopsy could not determine whether the baby was still-born or killed, and the cause of death is listed as undetermined, Petersen said.

Last year a 15-year-old Henderson girl was charged in connection with the death of her newborn boy. She pleaded guilty to child endangerment charges and faces sentencing next month. She was accused of giving birth in April 2000 and leaving the baby in the toilet at the family's apartment. An autopsy determined that the child drowned.

In September Candice Kitto, an airman stationed at Nellis Air Force Base, pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in connection with the December 1999, death of her newborn daughter.

The infant's body was found in a plastic bag in a closet at her home. An autopsy showed the baby was born alive and was suffocated, authorities said.