Police Arrest U.S. Woman who Gave Birth in Sports Bar Toilet then Left Newborn Son to Die

Police in Pennsylvania, U.S., have arrested a 26-year-old woman who unceremoniously gave birth to a son in the toilet of a sports bar and then left the newborn to die inside the loo.

The incident happened on Aug 17 when Amanda Catherine Hein, along with three friends, went to Starters Pub near Bethlehem to watch pay-per-view wrestling. Her friends, who said they were not aware that she was pregnant, said that on that fateful night, she complained of back pain, excused herself and went to the toilet for 40 minutes.

Her friends thought the length of time she spent inside the toilet was too much so they kept texting her to ask her condition. Ms Hein reportedly ignored those messages because she was already hard in labor inside the bathroom.

Luis Rivera, one of the friends who was with Ms Hein that night, said the latter's clothes was stained with blood when she returned from the bathroom. Northampton County District Attorney John Morganelli quoted Mr Rivera as saying that Ms Hein refused their help. She didn't also reveal what happened inside the toilet.

To prove that she's ok and that nothing earthshaking happened, she even went outside the bar to smoke and then returned to her friends and continued watching the match.

The night went on without fanfare, or so Ms Hein thought.

The following morning, acting on customer complaints that the toilet won't flush properly, Starters Pub bar owner David Rank told a janitor to look into the matter and clean it thoroughly.

The cleaner was in for his greatest shock when he opened the tank cover only to see a baby boy submerged and wrapped in a plastic bag.

"Inside the tank was a fetus," Mr Rank told NBC10.

"The baby was four to seven weeks early at the time of delivery," Mr Morganelli said.

"Why, I don't know," Mr Morganelli added. "But the criminal justice system does have to protect everyone. ... Whether it was one hour or 10 minutes old or a year old, it is a person, and this person's life was taken."

"I cannot get inside this lady's head," he said. "I have no clue."

Ms Hein had admitted to the gruesome act. She said she had known she was pregnant since May or June but did not tell anyone, including the people she was with that night.

Charged with criminal homicide, she was arraigned Monday afternoon and is currently being held without bail.

She faces death penalty if found guilty of the charges hurled against her. Intentionally killing a child under the age of 12 is a capital offense.