Sorority sister sentenced to life in prison for leaving newborn to die in trash bag

ZANESVILLE, Ohio — In April 2015, a 21-year-old sorority sister at Muskingum University in Ohio gave birth in a bathroom and put the newborn girl in a trash bag outside the building, where the baby suffocated to death, prosecutors said.

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Initially, Emile Weaver told investigators that she did not know she was pregnant, but last month a jury found her guilty of aggravated murder, abusing a corpse and tampering with evidence — and two frightening texts sent after the birth helped seal Weaver’s fate.

According to the Columbus Dispatch, Weaver sent texts to the man she believed was the father even though DNA tests later proved this wasn't the case.

The texts read “No more baby” and “taken care of.” Sorority sisters were the ones who discovered the crime.

A funeral was held for the baby, named Addison Grace Weaver, after an autopsy was performed but before Weaver was arrested.

Weaver appeared in court again Monday and apologized, saying, “I ask God for forgiveness, and today, all I can do is ask for all of yours.”

She also wrote a four-paragraph letter to Muskingum County Common Pleas Judge Mark Fledge, which the judge criticized heavily for including the words “I” and “my” 20 times.

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“Once again, it’s all about you,” he said.

The Columbus Dispatch described the apology as “tearful and, at times unintelligible.”

Below is an account given by the Columbus Dispatch of Weaver’s initial story:

"At the time, Weaver, of Clarington in Monroe County, told investigators that she didn't know she was pregnant until she went to the bathroom that April morning at her Delta Gamma Theta sorority house, where she was a member, and delivered her baby on the toilet. But she did know, prosecutors argued during trial, and engaged in risky behaviors — drinking alcohol, smoking marijuana and playing in a dodgeball tournament — because she never intended to keep the baby, they said."

Despite a plea by her defense for parole eligibility after 20 years, Weaver was sentenced to life without parole.

She plans to appeal the sentence.

Cox Media Group