This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2014, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
A Monday bail hearing for a Kearns woman accused of dumping her newborn into a trash can was postponed at the request of her attorneys, who want time to have her evaluated for possible medical issues, mental health concerns or developmental disabilities.
Another bail hearing for 23-year-old Alicia Marie Englert was set for Oct. 20.
And on Oct. 16, Englert will appear in court to schedule a preliminary hearing.
Meanwhile, Englert is being held at the Salt Lake County jail in lieu of $500,000, cash-only bail.
She is charged with first-degree felony attempted murder for allegedly failing to care for the newborn and, ultimately, leaving it to die in a neighbor's trash can in August. If convicted as charged, Englert would face up to life in prison.
The infant, who survived some 36 hours without food or care and was initially in critical condition, has been placed in the care of the state's Division of Child and Family Services.
According to court documents, Englert allegedly admitted to police that she gave birth to the baby in the bathroom of her Kearns home. She wrapped the infant in a towel, left her on the floor, and went to bed, according to charges. The next day, Monday, she went to work, leaving the child wrapped in the towel on the floor.
After she returned from work, Englert could see the infant was still alive because her fingers were moving, charging documents state.
The following morning two days after the child's birth she put the baby in her neighbor's garbage can at about 5:45 a.m.
"I don't want it," Englert allegedly told police, adding she didn't know she was pregnant until the day she delivered the child.
"She admitted she knew that not providing any care for the baby and discarding the baby in a garbage can was wrong," a police detective wrote. "But said she didn't want her parents to 'freak out' or to know that she'd been pregnant and delivered a baby."
But a convenience-store clerk later told police that Englert often came to the store nearby her home and said she had asked Englert in late July about her pregnancy.
The clerk said Englert said she was due in August.
Unified Police officials say they have found no medical evidence that Englert who graduated high school, maintains social media accounts and held a job with a car rental agency is mentally incompetent.
Englert's father, Robert Englert, has insisted his daughter is developmentally disabled and may not understand the gravity of her actions.
Police said Englert does not know who fathered the baby.
The morning of Aug. 26, Englert's neighbors discovered the infant after investigating the sounds of what they thought was a kitten crying in a trash can at a home near 5300 South and 5200 West. They found the baby naked and buried under two bags of garbage, police said.
The newborn girl had low body core temperature, a blood-borne infection and was covered in feces when she arrived at the hospital, according to court records. Joanne Beachy, a neonatal intensive-care physician at Primary Children's Hospital, told police that an MRI showed that the baby suffered a mild brain injury due to lack of oxygen, but there was no permanent brain damage. However, the doctor said that because of the medical conditions the child suffered after birth, she is at an increased risk for developmental problems.