BURLINGTON — A 22-year-old Le Roy woman will stand trial, accused of murdering her newborn baby.
Coffey County District Court Judge Eric Godderz announced Monday that there was sufficient evidence to hold Karen Marie Bailey on charges of first-degree murder and aggravated endangerment of a child.
Bailey is accused of giving birth to a baby sometime April 2, then allowing the newborn to die later that day.
Godderz’s ruling came at the end of a 21⁄2-hour preliminary hearing, the Coffey County Republican reported.
Godderz said evidence suggested the baby died as a result of “ineffective post-natal care,” the newspaper reported.
Iolan Jack Geisler, the baby’s paternal grandfather, testified that he saw Bailey leaving a Pump ‘N Pete’s franchise in Iola, where she worked, the morning of April 2, shortly before she purportedly gave birth. Bailey refused his offers to help, Geisler said, and after repeated attempts to contact her, she called him that afternoon, claiming she had given birth on her way home from work and that the child had been stillborn.
Her story changed during a police interview three days later, Coffey County Detective Tom Johnson testified, after she was given an autopsy report that suggested the baby was alive when it was born.
According to Johnson, Bailey then admitted to knowing the baby was alive when it was born, but keeping the infant in her vehicle for several hours until it stopped breathing, the newspaper reported.
Godderz scheduled a June 30 arraignment hearing for Bailey. She remains in Coffey County Jail on a $500,000 bond.
Le Roy woman ordered to stand trial in baby’s death
