Mother Arrested For Murder Of Newborn Son
November 27, 2007
On
November 27, 2007 at 6:57 a.m. the Mesa Police Department
arrested 19-year-old Tiffany Lee Hecker of Mesa for the murder
of her newborn son, Jeremy Lee Davidson.
The tragic event unfolded on the morning of January 22, 2007
when Mesa Police detectives responded to the Chandler Regional
Hospital to investigate the death of an infant child that
allegedly occurred at 2835 E. Concho Avenue in Mesa. During the
initial investigation Hecker told detectives that she thought
she might have been pregnant, however she never administered a
pregnancy test or sought prenatal medical care.
Hecker alleges that on January 22, 2007 at 2:00 a.m. she was
feeling ill while driving home from her boyfriend's house. Later
that morning at 5:30 a.m., Hecker found herself sitting on the
toilet in her bathroom feeling as if something was happening.
Shortly thereafter she gave birth to her infant son in the
toilet. Hecker told investigators that she noticed that the baby
made a sound and that she saw his stomach move. She picked up
her newborn child out of the toilet and the baby suddenly
stopped moving. She states that she held her son for a brief
period of time and then put him back in the toilet. She sat back
down on the toilet and delivered the placenta. She then took her
newborn son out of the toilet and placed him on some towels on
the floor of the bathroom. Hecker told her mother that she had
just given birth to a baby and that the baby was dead. At the
urging of her mother, Hecker placed her newborn son in a bag and
put him in a trash can outside. Ten minutes later she decided to
put her baby in the trunk of the family car. Hecker and her
mother then drove to the Chandler Regional Hospital with her
baby and the placenta in the trunk of the car. Hospital staff
contacted the authorities once they learned about the incident.
Hecker denied drowning, smothering or injuring the baby in any
way. Hecker received medical treatment at the hospital and the
investigation was continued.
The Maricopa County Medical Examiner's Office was responsible
for the autopsy of Hecker's newborn child, who had been named
Jeremy Lee Davidson. The autopsy revealed that there were no
indications to indicate that the death of baby Jeremy was at all
natural. The placenta and umbilical cord appeared to be normal
and the baby was born at full term. The death of baby Jeremy was
ruled a homicide.
As a result of the investigation, Hecker was
booked on suspicion of 2nd Degree Murder and Child Abuse.
Tiffany exercised her right to remain silent and a post-arrest
interview was not conducted. As of this writing a bond amount
for Hecker's release has not been set.