Palm Coast resident Anne Mae Demegillo has been indicted for first degree murder in connection to the death of her infant child. Her initial arrest on March 6 was for aggravated manslaughter of a child but the following investigation has led to further, more severe charges. A grand jury indicted her following a month-long investigation.
According to initial reports, Demegillo gave birth on March 5 into a toilet after experiencing abdominal pain. She was said to have watched the child with its head partially submerged in the water, and waited for the crying to stop. The child was then buried in the backyard of her residence on Florida Park Drive.
In the hours that followed the child’s death, Demegillo was said to have left the body in a duffel bag and attended a theater performance in New Smyrna Beach. She initially told law enforcement that she was unaware of her pregnancy until the moment she gave birth.
Now, the Flagler County Sheriff’s Office has announced new evidence which supports three new charges against Demegillo. Detectives reportedly searched Demegillo’s phone and found a series of relevant internet searches from the time leading up to the infant’s birth and immediate death. Those searches included the following:
- “newborn premature babies”
- “Palm Coast OBGYN”
- “foods to decrease fertility”
A spokesperson for the FCSO clarified that “newborn premature babies” may have been searched after Demegillo’s child was born, as it was entered around the time the birth is believed to have happened.
In addition to these searches, detectives also reportedly found images of Casey Anthony and her newborn babies on Demegillo’s phone. In 2011, Anthony went on trial for the murder of her two-year-old daughter Caylee in Orlando. She was found not guilty.
Demegillo has now been charged with first degree murder, aggravated child abuse, and refusal to provide relevant information for a death investigation. She turned herself in to the county jail on Monday, where she’s being held without bond pending a court hearing.
“This is one of those tragic cases that shock you to your core that a mother would allow a newborn to die because the newborn was a distraction to her life,” said Flagler Sheriff Rick Staly. “It’s hard to comprehend how a mother would choose to watch their infant drown instead of lifting the baby out of the toilet. I commend our investigators who followed every lead and our Digital Forensics team that uncovered the digital evidence to prove this tragic case was a premeditated murder. I thank State Attorney R.J. Larizza and his office for reviewing the facts of our investigation and the Grand Jury for doing a very difficult job.”
I hope they give her the death penalty, and don’t wait decades to end her life.