Attempted murder charge filed against mother who gave birth in UIHC bathroom

IOWA CITY - An attempted murder charge has been filed against the Davenport woman accused of leaving her newborn in a University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics trashcan after giving birth in a hospital bathroom.

While 22-year-old Ashley Hautzenrader told UI police she believed her baby was stillborn when she gave birth on May 8, the new charge indicates authorities don't believe that portion of her story.

Four days after Hautzenrader gave birth, police sought and obtained a search warrant for her cellphone. It is unclear what,if anything, was found on the phone or if that was related to this new charge.

Hautzenrader, who was ordered on Thursday to appear in Johnson County on June 9, still faces her original charge of child endangerment.

According to a UI police criminal complaint for her original arrest, Hautzenrader entered a bathroom in the John Colloton Pavilion at UIHC around 9:24 p.m. May 8 and delivered a baby into the toilet. Hautzenrader would later tell authorities she did not know she was pregnant and that the baby was not crying when it was born, leading her to believe the child was dead.

After attempting to flush the baby down the toilet, Hautzenrader put the child in a pillow case and placed it in a trash can, police said. She then cleaned the bathroom and left.

UIHC employees later found the baby alive in the trash can. Officers confronted Hautzenrader, who admitted to putting the child there.

UI officials have said they cannot comment on the condition of the baby, citing federal health privacy law. The Safe Haven law in Iowa would have allowed Hautzenrader to turn the child over to the hospital without facing criminal prosecution.

According to online court records, trial information - the official charging document in a criminal case - was filed on May 31. That same day, arraignment in the case was set for June 17. Hautzenrader has been ordered to not have contact with her child.

Hautzenrader was identified as a petitioner in a paternity and child support recovery case filed in Scott County in May 2015, indicating she has at least one other child. It is unclear who has custody of either of Hautzenrader's children at this time.

Attempted murder is a Class B felony punishable by up to 25 years in prison.