WEST MELBOURNE, Fla. – A woman accused of killing her newborn twins after she gave birth on a toilet was panicked and crying while struggling to perform CPR in a recently released 911 call.
West Melbourne Police Department officials said they were called to the Laurel Oak Street home Sunday at 12:08 p.m. when Rachael Lynn Thomas called 911 and said that she gave birth after not knowing she was pregnant.
"I had a baby and then I passed out, and now the baby's not responding and I don't know what to do," Thomas told a 911 operator.
Police said Thomas claimed at first that she only gave birth to one baby boy, but they later found a newborn girl dead in a garbage can outside the home.
In the 911 call, Thomas speaks to a fire and rescue employee who instructs her on how to perform CPR on the newborn.
"It's not doing anything and it's cold and it's blue," Thomas says, telling the operator that the baby boy did not appear to be breathing.
She claimed she passed out for a few hours after giving birth but she had cleaned the baby boy and wrapped him in a towel, according to a record of the call.
The call ends about five minutes later when first responders arrived.
Warning: The call below contains content that some readers may consider to be graphic, discretion is advised.
Police said the baby boy was pronounced dead at Holmes Regional Hospital at 12:40 p.m. When they spoke to Thomas at the home, she told them that she continued to have her period, so she didn't know she was pregnant, according to the affidavit.
Blood was found in the bathroom and bloody tissues were found in the kitchen trash can, the report said. Police said Thomas told them that neither baby made any noises when they were born, and "there were two and they were both dead and she got scared."
Thomas told investigators that she panicked and couldn't remember putting the newborn girl in the trash outside, although the plastic bag containing the infant appeared to be hidden under another bag of trash, the warrant said.
An autopsy conducted on the twins found that they both suffered multiple blunt force injuries to the head, and the baby girl also had a foreign object forced in her mouth in a way that blocked her airway, according to the affidavit.
West Melbourne Police Department Capt. Richard Cordeau said that foreign object was a balled up piece of gauze that was shoved about 2 inches down the baby's throat.
Police said they believe that Thomas "gave birth to the otherwise healthy twins then took their lives." Both babies are believed to have been carried to a full 39-week term, a news release said.
Although Thomas repeatedly said that she didn't know she was pregnant, Cordeau said investigators spoke to someone who said Thomas knew she was pregnant.
Thomas has been charged with first-degree murder, two counts of felony murder and two counts of aggravated child abuse. She's being held without bond at the Brevard County Jail.
Thomas' two other children, an 8-year-old boy and 1-year-old boy, have been placed in the custody of other family members.