Woman tosses her newborn child down from 7th floor

An Iowa woman was charged with killing her newborn daughter by throwing her down a Florida hotel trash chute from the seventh floor.

Photo: Woman tosses her newborn child down from 7th floor

Ashley Truitt, 18, was being held Monday without bond on one count of murder, Broward County sheriff's officials said.

Truitt told police she hid her pregnancy from her parents and boyfriend. They were all staying at the Wyndham Resort on Saturday when authorities found a bloody kitchen knife in the hallway and the newborn's body in a trash bin.

Truitt said she gave birth in the bathroom, using the knife to cut the umbilical cord. She then put the baby in a plastic bag with some bath towels and threw it down the trash chute, authorities said.

An autopsy performed Sunday found the newborn died from blunt trauma to the head, likely from being dropped in the chute.

A phone message left at the Truitt family's home in Iowa was not immediately returned Monday.