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Monday, November 19, 2012

'I put my hands around its throat to make it stop breathing': Horrifying moment a 14-year-old girl explains how she strangled newborn before hiding body in a shoebox


A 14-year-old girl has told in horrifying detail of the moment she secretly delivered her baby with a pair of scissors in the family bathroom before throttling the newborn 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 disguising the pregnancy from her parents.

In a video reconstruction, using a Santa Claus doll as a model for the baby, Goodison sat in the bathroom of her Florida home to show investigators what she did. The new evidence was released last week as part of the capital murder case against her.  Police had the teenager reconstruct how she had allegedly killed her child, using a Santa Claus doll as the baby.
Graphic: Cassidy Goodison, 14, shows how she killed her baby by demonstrating on a Santa Claus doll at her Florida home
Graphic: Cassidy Goodison, 14, shows how she killed her baby by demonstrating on a Santa Claus doll at her Florida home




On the ABC clip, she said: 'Its eyes weren’t open but I felt to see if it was breathing or not, and (it was breathing) so I put my hands around its throat to make it stop breathing.' 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.
 Horrifying: Goodison renacted the moment she choked her baby to death in September at her home

Horrifying: Goodison renacted the moment she choked her baby to death in September at her home

After prising the 9.5lb boy from 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 shoebox with dirty laundry. When asked by police how hard she squeezed, the girl said: 'Enough for it to stop breathing.' Three days later, as Teresa Goodson cleaned her daughter's room, a foul odor 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.
 Secrets: Goodison told police she was frightened of telling her parents she was pregnant

Secrets: Goodison told police she was frightened of telling her parents she was pregnant

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. 
 Facing life in prison:The 14-year-old has been charged with first-degree murder in Florida

Facing life in prison:The 14-year-old has been charged with first-degree murder in Florida

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 vaginal 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.
 Hidden: The teenager hid the dead baby in a shoebox which was found by her mother when she was cleaning

Hidden: The teenager hid the dead baby in a shoebox which was found by her mother when she was cleaning

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 shoebox. 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.
 Life-changing: The teenager could be sentenced to life after the death of her baby

Life-changing: The teenager could be sentenced to life after the death of her baby

Miss Goodson was arrested 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.'

 Source: Daily Mail UK 

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