Kentucky Woman Arrested For Trying To Flush Newborn Baby Down Toilet At IHOP

[Warning: Potentially Triggering Content]

A Kentucky woman has been arrested and charged after cops say she attempted to flush a newborn baby down a toilet in the bathroom of an IHOP restaurant.

Last Wednesday evening around 8:00 p.m. local time, police in the city of Bowling Green, Kentucky received a 911 call from a witness about a woman bleeding heavily in an IHOP bathroom. The caller initially thought the woman might have miscarried. However, it was far worse than that. They also claimed in the call the woman was trying to flush her newborn baby down the toilet.

By the time cops arrived on scene at the IHOP, the bleeding woman in question was gone. Sadly, officers did find a deceased baby in the toilet — one who appeared to have been newly born, not miscarried, according to a report from the Bowling Green Daily News. Based on the witness’ description of the bleeding woman, cops fanned out in search of her. Not long after, they tracked down a 35-year-old woman later identified as Shaniqua Caldwell (pictured in her mugshot, above) in the parking lot of a nearby Red Roof Inn.

When questioned, Caldwell admitted to having been at the IHOP that evening. However, she denied she was pregnant — and instead told cops that she hadn’t had sex in more than six years. Per WBKO News, she then claimed to be related to Denzel Washington and Michael Jordan. She later told cops that she was actually from New York, too, though she couldn’t provide an address there. Furthermore, she stated that she was in Bowling Green on business — but couldn’t come up with a specific story about that, either.

When police offered her access to medical attention, she refused that, too. In his initial affidavit written up about the case, per the BGDN, Detective Kyle Scharlow wrote:

“Based off my interactions with Caldwell, I was concerned with her mental state. I also was concerned for her welfare when she refused any medical treatment after likely just giving birth to a child.”

Oof…

Cops deemed Caldwell to be a possible danger to herself, and they took her into custody for an emergency mental health evaluation. From there, she was booked into Warren County Regional Jail in Bowling Green on a misdemeanor charge of concealing the birth of an infant.

As of Monday morning, Caldwell is still in jail on a $2,500 bond for a couple reasons. For one, though the initial charge is a misdemeanor, medical examiners are worried the baby may have been born alive and then killed during the attempted flushing. If that’s the case, per local news reports, more charges against Caldwell may be possible. In addition to that, detectives have identified her as a flight risk. Had she just been cited and released, considering the lack of identifying information she gave to officers and her lack of ties to the community, they were worried she would vanish. So she’ll remain in jail for the foreseeable future as these charges and the baby’s autopsy get worked out. Ugh. Such a terrible, tragic situation.