A 20-year-old woman is facing murder charges after her newborn baby girl was found dead in a field.
Jordyn Kauffman, of McVeytown, is facing charges for murder in the first degree, aggravated assault, endangering the welfare of children, abuse of a corpse, concealing the death of a child, and recklessly endangering another person, ABC27 reported, citing court records.
Charging documents reportedly detail how State Police received a call from a Lewiston Geisinger Hospital nurse on May 15 who said she was told about a baby who was left in a garbage bag in a field. The criminal complaint alleges that Kauffman had missed several appointments related to her pregnancy and had told hospital staff in the fall of 2025 that she did not want to have a baby.
Kauffman allegedly told nurses about leaving her baby in a field a day after she gave birth to the child alone in her home, according to the report. State Police said Kauffman allegedly admitting to wrongdoing but said she was afraid of retaliation for getting pregnant.
“The criminal complaint shows Kauffman told Troopers she cut, then threw her umbilical cord and placenta in a garbage can outside her home. She said she held the baby for half an hour, and the baby was still alive when she put the newborn on the ground,” according to the report.
An autopsy confirmed the baby was born alive.
Investigators found the deceased child near a home along Mt. Hope Road in Wayne Township. Troopers said the baby girl was found with clusters of bug bites and yellow fly eggs in her hair and around her body. Court documents noted that temperatures outside on the day of the baby’s death reached a high of 49 degrees and a low of 44 degrees, with winds up to 13 mph.
The hospital’s Manager of Police and Security Services reported discussing the state’s Safe Haven law with Kauffman earlier that month before she gave birth after she missed several appointments, per the report.
Kauffman was booked into the Mifflin County Prison without bail, according to the report. She is scheduled for a preliminary hearing on May 27.
Pennsylvania has a Safe Haven law that allows the legal surrender of an unharmed newborn up to 28 days after birth to hospitals, fire stations, EMS providers, Urgent Care, police stations, and Safe Haven Baby Boxes.
Katherine Hamilton is a political reporter for Breitbart News. You can follow her on X @thekat_hamilton.
Read the full article here