delivered her baby with a pair of scissors in the
family bathroom before throttling the boy to
death and hiding the body in a shoe box. Cassidy Goodison, 14, has been charged as an
adult with first degree murder after police
learned how she killed her child following
months of fearfully disguising her pregnancy
from her mother and father. Her harrowing case has shocked even
experienced officers and graphically illustrates
the problems of the 750,000 teenage Americans
who fall pregnant every year. Goodison went into labor in her home in
Greenbrier Village, Florida on September 19 and
instead of calling for help, disguised her
screams of pain by running the tap and gripping
a towel between her teeth as she sat on the
toilet. After prising the 9.5lb boy form her body with a
pair of scissors, she felt for a pulse and then
strangled the boy to death and hid his corpse in
a shoe box with dirty laundry. Three days later, as Teresa Goodson cleaned
her daughter’s room, a foul odour drew her
attention to a pile of soiled, wet clothes in which
she found the deceased infant hidden in a box. An autopsy performed determined the victim
was a full term infant and that he was alive and
breathing prior to death. He died as a result of
asphyxia from strangulation and blunt force
trauma. Miss Goodson had gone to great lengths to hide
the transformation of her 5ft 3in 100lb body
during pregnancy, according to Polk County
officials. Throughout the summer, as she walked around
in baggy sweat pant and loose-fitting T-shirts. Members of her family grew suspicious of her
appearance and attempted to discuss the
possibility she was pregnant with the teen’s
mother. But Mrs Goodson denied the suggestions, said
the report, claiming that she had made her
daughter do two home tests, albeit in the
privacy of her bathroom, which both came out
negative. Husband Timothy Goodson agreed meanwhile
that he had noticed Miss Goodson’s weight gain
and that she had been walking around at home
wrapped in a blanket. An interview with the teenager on September 22
revealed that after the 14-year-old had delivered
the 9.5lb, 20.4in boy into the toilet, she had felt
for a pulse and then strangled him to death. Confirming he was dead by once again checking
his pulse, she then cleaned herself and the
baby and tucked the evidence out of sight. Shortly after, however, Mrs Goodson noticed
blood in the toilet she knew had been recently
used by her daughter so took her to Lakeland
Regional Medical Center. There medical staff treating the high school
student told Mrs Goodson that she had suffered
a miscarriage and showed four to five
lacerations on her v*g*nal wall. Though these injuries were in reality self-
inflicted when the teenager had pried the baby
out of her with a pair of scissors, she falsely
confessed to her mother that she had indeed
had a miscarriage at home and flushed the fetus
down the toilet by mistake. Polk County Sheriff’s Office deputies, along
with members of the Department of Children and
Families responded to a call from the hospital
reporting the case and details were retained by
the PCSO Bureau of Criminal Investigations for
follow up investigations. According to the Sheriff’s Office affidavit, on the
evening of September 22, at approximately
7.30pm, Mrs Goodson removed a bag of smelly,
wet clothing from a storage stool in her
daughter’s bedroom. While sorting through the clothing she found the
body of the baby concealed in the shoe box. In a panic, Mrs Goodson called her sisters who
in turn alerted the police. Miss Goodson told detectives she was
motivated to hide her pregnancy and choke the
baby ‘to stop him from breathing,’ by the fear
that her relationship with her parents would
change if they found out the truth. Miss Goodson was arrested on Thursday and
transported first to the Juvenile Assessment
Center and then to the Polk County Juvenile
Detention Facility. She is charged with Premeditated First Degree
Murder, a capital felony and Aggravated Child
Abuse, a first degree felony. Polk County Public Information officer, Donna
Wood, told MailOnline: This is the most
perplexing, confusing, disheartening case I’ve
ever seen in my 18 years on this job. Everyone
has been touched by it.’
No comments:
Post a Comment