A dead baby found inside the bag of a teen suspected of shoplifting at the Herald Square Victoria's Secret was born alive and may have been drowned, law enforcement sources told NBC 4 New York.
The baby had fluid in his lungs and authorities are examining whether the baby was drowned, the sources said.
The medical examiner said its results were still inconclusive and more tests were pending before determining a final cause of death.
The dead baby was discovered at about 1:30 p.m. Thursday when a security guard at the 34th Street store pulled aside the girl and her 17-year-old friend under suspicion of shoplifting. The guard got a whiff of a strong odor coming from the girl's bag and found the body when he looked inside.
The girl told police that she was about six months pregnant and miscarried the baby Wednesday. Police haven't charged her with any crime in relation to the child, but she and her friend are both charged with petit larceny and criminal possession of stolen property. Both have pleaded not guilty.
One of the girl's Brooklyn neighbors, Ricardo Salazar, said she didn't even know the girl was pregnant until police officers interviewed him Thursday.
"They asked me if I had seen a lump or if she was recently was pregnant and I told them 'I couldn't really tell,' because she was always a little heavy," he said. "But in a way, I guess she was."
Local
The girl, who has another child, was taken to Bellevue Hospital for evaluation.
