NJ Mom Put Dead Baby In Shoebox, Asked Help On Instagram: Officials

SOUTH BRUNSWICK, NJ — The 19-year-old Middlesex County woman who was charged with manslaughter after the death of her newborn placed the dead baby in a shoebox, and asked for help on social media to bury the infant, officials said.

Jessica Farag gave birth to a baby in an upstairs bathroom at her home in Jamesburg, on June 8 at 12:30 p.m., according to the affidavit of probable cause filed with the Middlesex County Prosecutor’s Office. More: Middlesex Co. Woman Charged With Manslaughter After Newborn's Death

Around 10:15 p.m. officers from Jamesburg Police Department arrived at Farag’s residence for a welfare check after receiving a call, according to the affidavit.

Farag was standing outside the house with a shoebox when officers arrived. She told officers the child was stillborn and that she placed the dead infant in a shoebox which she then put in her closet until approximately 10 p.m., the affidavit states.

The woman told authorities that she contacted her friends on social media asking what to do with the baby. One of the friends alerted the authorities.

Meanwhile, Farag told first responders (Monroe EMT) that the baby was “moving and crying for a few minutes.” She later told officers that she placed the baby on the counter until the infant died and put the dead baby in a shoebox, the complaint says.

Farag and her daughter were taken to Robert Wood Johnson Hospital where the infant was pronounced dead.

During the investigation, a witness told authorities that Farag contacted them on Instagram, asking them for help with burying the baby in the woods. “I need to go to a graveyard and bury something,” she wrote to her friend, according to the affidavit.

Farag said she had a shovel and asked her friend to bring a backpack. She also offered money to help bury the baby, the complaint said. “U never buried something special to u? In the woods,” Farag wrote to her friend on Instagram, according to the affidavit.

Farag was charged with one count of first-degree aggravated manslaughter, one count of second-degree desecration of human remains and one count of second-degree endangering the welfare of a child.

Have a correction or news tip? Email sarah.salvadore@patch.com