What to Know
- Tears filled an NJ courtroom Wednesday where an 18-year-old mother and her boyfriend faced a judge for the first time in their baby's death
- Prosecutors say Jada McClain hid her pregnancy from her parents and delivered the baby in her bathroom March 29; he cried when he was born
- McClain allegedly then pressed on his chest until he died and brought the body to her boyfriend, who is accused of throwing him in the trash
An 18-year-old New Jersey mother who allegedly pressed on her newborn son's chest until he stopped breathing, then threw him in a dumpster like trash, made her first appearance in an emotional courtroom Wednesday on a murder charge.
Jada McClain, of Neptune Township, hid her pregnancy from her parents and gave birth in the bathroom of her home on March 29, according to an affidavit revealed Saturday. The baby was born alive and cried; she put him on her bed, placed her hands on his chest and pushed down until he died, the report said.
Prosecutors allege McClain put the baby's body in a car and then picked up her boyfriend, 19-year-old Quaimere Mohammed. Mohammed allegedly tossed the baby's body in a trash bin outside an Asbury Park apartment complex. Both McClain and Mohammed face charges of desecrating human remains, but the mother is the only one of the two to be accused of second-degree murder.
The remains of the baby have yet to be found.
Family and friends from the defendants' high schools cried and hugged in court Wednesday as the two made their first appearance. None were willing to comment publicly afterward.
McClain's attorney described the case as a double shock for the young woman's parents, who simultaneously lost an infant grandson and saw their daughter arrested.
A lawyer for Mohammed declined comment Wednesday, according to the Associated Press.
