A TEENAGER allegedly threw her newborn baby out of a hotel window where he plummeted 30ft to its death while on her gap year.
American Mia McQuillin, 18, has been accused of tossing her baby boy from the second floor of the Ibis Styles hotel in Paris just moments after he was born.
Mia from Bend, Oregon was reportedly on a study trip to the French capital with fellow US students when she allegedly threw her baby from the window with the umbilical cord still attached.
Investigators have said they believe she was suffering from “pregnancy denial”.
It is thought that she gave birth in the hotel room without medical supervision.
Her son was found on the street wrapped in a blanket in the 20th arrondissement near to the historic Place de la Nation around 6 am on Monday.
He was rushed to the Robert Debre hospital but was pronounced dead on arrival due to the horrific injuries caused by the 30ft fall.
French authorities have said that the baby was thrown from the second floor.
They added that they believe she “unexpectedly” gave birth in the hotel whil in Paris as part of “a group of young people travelling in Europe.”
Witnesses reported hearing “screams” and cries from the baby before calling the emergency services, per Paris Match.
It reported that the infant was transported to hospital “in absolute emergency and with a life-threatening prognosis.”
Mia’s shocked grandfather Ralph McQuillin told DailyMail.com: “I have nothing to comment because I don’t know anything.”
“And that’s pretty much where the family is. That’s all I can say,” the 78-year-old added.
After the horrifying incident, the teenager was taken to the same hospital as her baby for an operation following the birth.
There she was arrested and charged with child homicide, authorities have said.
Paris’ public prosecutor told Le Parisien that an investigation has been launched for the “homicide of a minor under 15”.
Everyone is shaken. It’s like a nightmare, something you never want to see, especially not in your own street.
Local resident
A source close to the case told Paris Match on Monday: “The investigation is underway and the precise circumstances of this tragedy remain to be established.
“We do not yet know if we are dealing with a denial of pregnancy.”
Pregnancy denial is a mental condition where the mother does not know or cannot accept that she is pregnant.
While one in 475 women experience it at 20 weeks of pregnancy, instances of it lasting until delivery is estimated to be around one in 2500, according to the Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine.
“Denial of pregnancy poses adverse consequences including psychological distress, unassisted delivery and neonaticide,” it states, adding that it is a “red flag” for psychiatric assessment.
The source close to the investigation said that the woman’s mental state will be assessed by psychologists.
One local resident told The Times of her horror at what happened: “I saw the scene just minutes after it happened.
“The baby had already been taken away but the police were still there.
“It’s difficult to believe that this happened here.
“No one knows if the mother did it deliberately or not, and everyone is shaken.”
“It’s like a nightmare, something you never want to see, especially not in your own street,” the 40-year-old added.
In Germany last year a woman was found guilty of manslaughter after dropping her newborn baby nearly 12ft from her apartment window allegedly because “she was worried a baby would ruin her career”.
Katarina Jovanovic admitted to the crime at the beginning of the trial but could not explain the moment to court before she was found guilty on July 3.
