Newborn found dead in trash in Ohio college bathroom. Now his mom is going to prison

A woman accused of abandoning her newborn in an Ohio college bathroom has been sentenced to prison following the baby’s death, outlets report.

The infant was found dead in the trash at Hiram College — a small liberal arts school roughly 41 miles southeast of downtown Cleveland — in October 2019, WOIO reported.

Cleaning staff found the baby boy in a trash bag, an investigation was launched, and authorities identified Breyona Reddick as the boy’s mother, the TV station reported. Reddick was a student at Hiram College at the time.

Reddick, 21, pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter and was sentenced to 10 years in prison on Tuesday, June 21, the Cleveland Plain Dealer reported.

She was an 18-year-old freshman with a full scholarship at the school when she became pregnant, and subsequently gave birth to and abandoned the baby on campus, according to the newspaper.

“There is nothing that disturbs me more than sending a young woman to prison who should be a success story,” Portage County Common Pleas Court Judge Becky Doherty said at the sentencing. “But I also cannot overlook really the depravity that it took for you to take this child and toss him away like garbage.”

Reddick initially faced a slew of charges including aggravated murder and child endangerment, but she took a deal in April and pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter, the Associated Press reported.

During the sentencing Tuesday, Reddick said she regretted her actions, calling them a “lapse in judgment,” the outlet reported.

This story was originally published June 22, 2022 at 11:34 AM with the headline "Newborn found dead in trash in Ohio college bathroom. Now his mom is going to prison."