Tara Lynn Ostrowski didn’t tell anyone that she was pregnant, including her husband, but she did tell an anonymous person that she had buried her child minutes after giving birth.
The 37-year-old woman from Rock Hill, S.C. has been charged with illegal conduct toward a child and the death was ruled a homicide.
According to the New York Daily News, “authorities learned of the situation in May when she confessed to an anonymous person who notified a mental health employee” and shortly afterwards Ostrowski confessed and showed them where the baby was buried.
The coroner discovered that the baby tested positive for hydrocodone and methamphetamine, and that Ostrowski had taken non-prescribed pain medication during her pregnancy.
Ostrowski’s husband Mike was distraught over the situation, according to his mother Ann Ostrowski.
“He came in here crying, and he said, ‘If she’d have just told me, it’d been OK,'” she told the Herald. “She probably got scared, didn’t know what to do and probably thought that was the best thing to do.”
“She’s really a good person. I just don’t understand why she didn’t call 911,” she went on.
16th Circuit Deputy Solicitor Willy Thompson said Wednesday that there is currently no evidence that the child was killed intentionally.
“There’s no evidence that she intentionally killed the child,” he told the Herald. “The facts of this case don’t lend themselves to a manslaughter.”
Ostrowski faces the charge of illegal conduct towards a child, which is punishable by up to 10 years in prison.
