Woman who denied being pregnant pleads not guilty in baby’s death

Published 2:38 pm Tuesday, August 26, 2008

OLYMPIA — A Lacey woman who had denied knowing she was pregnant has pleaded not guilty to a second-degree murder charge in the death of the newborn baby.

The 29-year-old woman, Jessica Wemhaner, was held on $250,000 bail in the Thurston County Jail after today’s arraignment in Olympia.

Thurston County prosecutors say she had denied being pregnant but later told investigators she suspected she was pregnant and delivered the baby in the bathroom at her home.

Her husband also denied having any knowledge of the pregnancy and the baby.

The baby girl was found dead in a bathroom cabinet Aug. 10 after Wemhaner was treated at a hospital for bleeding.

An autopsy showed the full-term baby was born alive.

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Information from: KOMO-TV, http://www.komotv.com/