{"id":5319,"date":"2011-03-09T17:57:22","date_gmt":"2011-03-10T01:57:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lewiscountysirens.com\/?p=5319"},"modified":"2011-03-09T18:04:07","modified_gmt":"2011-03-10T02:04:07","slug":"centralia-woman-accused-of-her-decapitating-newborn","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lewiscountysirens.com\/?p=5319","title":{"rendered":"Centralia woman accused of decapitating her newborn"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Sharyn\u00a0 L. Decker
\nLewis County Sirens news reporter<\/strong><\/p>\n

Centralia police say a 25-year-old woman they arrested today gave birth to a baby about halfway through her pregnancy and then cut off its head with a knife.<\/p>\n

Officers arrested Laura Lynn Hickey, 25, of Centralia, and booked her into the Lewis County Jail for first-degree murder.<\/p>\n

Today’s arrest follows a week-long investigation into an incident that began at the Peppertree Motor Inn and RV Park on Alder Street in Centralia.<\/p>\n

Neighbors called 911 just before 1 a.m. last Wednesday after hearing Hickey calling for help from her residence, according to police.<\/p>\n

She was taken by ambulance to Providence Centralia Hospital where she told doctors she was having a miscarriage, police said. The examination revealed she had given birth, and she said she spontaneously aborted the fetus during the night, according to police.<\/p>\n

Centralia police say she admitted giving birth, and emergency room staff immediately called police and emergency responders to check the welfare of a possible fetus at the woman’s home.<\/p>\n

Officers found the deceased male baby in a container under the sink.<\/p>\n

Hickey lives in a fifth-wheel trailer at the RV park.<\/p>\n

Centralia Police Officer John Panco said Hickey had said she was about 21 weeks along in her pregnancy. The pathologist confirmed she was roughly 21 weeks along, Panco said today.<\/p>\n

Panco said the preliminary findings from an autopsy indicated the baby was alive at the time of its birth. The examination also indicated it suffered fatal injuries, decapitation, that were intentionally inflicted, according to Panco.<\/p>\n

“A knife was used,” he said.<\/p>\n

Lewis County Prosecutor Jonathan Meyer said today he expects to charge Hickey with “at least” first-degree murder.<\/p>\n

“The pathologist said it appeared the baby was born alive and was a viable fetus,” Meyer said.<\/p>\n

The Lewis County Coroner’s Office said today neither they, nor the forensic pathologist Dr. Emmanuel Lacsina have made a determination on the cause or manner of death.<\/p>\n

Chief Deputy Coroner Dawn Harris said the autopsy was conducted last week.<\/p>\n

They are awaiting toxicology and microscopic test, procedures routinely done with autopsies, according to Harris. The results could take at least eight weeks, she said.<\/p>\n

Panco said Hickey named the boy Caleb Jacob Hickey.<\/p>\n

He said she has three children who don’t live with her, as they have been taken into state custody.<\/p>\n

Hickey was interviewed at the police station today and then taken to the jail in Chehalis.<\/p>\n

Meyer said she is expected to go before a judge tomorrow afternoon.<\/p>\n

\u2022\u2022<\/p>\n

Read “News brief: ‘Remains’ found under sink after apparent miscarriage to be examined by coroner” from Wednesday March 2, 2011 at 11:28 a.m. here<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Sharyn\u00a0 L. Decker Lewis County Sirens news reporter Centralia police say a 25-year-old woman they arrested today gave birth to a baby about halfway through her pregnancy and then cut off its head with a knife. Officers arrested Laura Lynn Hickey, 25, of Centralia, and booked her into the Lewis County Jail for first-degree […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[9,10],"class_list":["post-5319","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-top-story","tag-by-sharyn-l-decker","tag-news-reporter"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lewiscountysirens.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5319","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lewiscountysirens.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lewiscountysirens.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lewiscountysirens.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lewiscountysirens.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5319"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/lewiscountysirens.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5319\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5322,"href":"https:\/\/lewiscountysirens.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5319\/revisions\/5322"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lewiscountysirens.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5319"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lewiscountysirens.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5319"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lewiscountysirens.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5319"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}