Ex-student found guilty of killing baby at sorority house
ZANESVILLE, Ohio -- A former college student accused of giving birth in a sorority house bathroom and killing her baby girl by disposing of her in a trash bag was found guilty of murder on Friday.
A jury issued a quick verdict finding 21-year-old Emile Weaver guilty of aggravated murder, abuse of a corpse and tampering with evidence.
Prosecutors argued that Weaver purposefully caused the death of her newborn daughter after giving birth in a bathroom at the Delta Gamma Theta sorority at Muskingum University on April 22, 2015. They said the baby girl died from asphyxiation after Weaver put her in a plastic trash bag and left it outside the sorority house.
Weaver testified Friday that she had been in denial about the pregnancy and thought the baby was already dead when she discarded the trash bag.
She pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity, but a judge ruled that she was mentally competent.
Hours after disposing of the baby, Weaver texted the man she thought was the father and said "no more baby" and the situation had been "taken care of." She told him she had gone into labor the night before but the baby died of complications.
Weaver will face life in prison when she's sentenced later.