HIRAM — A woman identified through DNA evidence as the mother of a newborn baby found dead in October inside a trash can in a bathroom in an Ohio college dormitory has been arrested and charged with murder.

Breyona Reddick, of Cleveland, was arrested Wednesday afternoon in the death of the baby boy at Hiram College, a liberal arts college in northeast Ohio.

Reddick’s age was not listed in Portage County Jail records. It was not known early Thursday how she was associated with the college.

Reddick was charged with aggravated murder, murder, felonious assault, endangering a child, tampering with evidence and abuse of a corpse.

After an examination by the Cuyahoga County Medical Examiner, the baby's death was ruled a homicide. The coroner's report says the baby died of asphyxiation due to exposure and postpartum inattention.

Portage County Coroner Dean DePerro said the baby boy was full-term at birth.

The baby was found in a trash can in a women's bathroom in Whitcomb Hall on the Hiram College campus around 11 a.m. Oct. 18, according to an initial report from the Hiram Police Department.

According to the coroner's report, the baby was alive for no more than an hour and was likely born on Oct. 18, 2019. The baby was found in a clear plastic trash bag with numerous bloody white paper towels in the bag as well as a dark blue hooded sweatshirt, a pair of gray women's panties, a feminine hygiene product wrapper and a roll of paper towels.

The umbilical cord was still attached to the baby.

Hiram Police Chief Brian Gregory, who wrote the report, said the trash bag was tied shut and laying on the floor of a second-floor restroom before housekeeping staff put it on a utility cart and took it to the rear of the building, where a maintenance worker discovered the baby.

In the report, Gregory wrote that the trash bag contained what appeared to be a deceased newborn, which was verified by a Hiram Fire Department squad member on duty.

Gregory then contacted the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation and the Portage County Coroner's Office, which arranged for the infant's body to be sent to Cuyahoga County. Portage contracts with Cuyahoga County and Summit County for coroner's duties as their offices are larger and have more resources.

Reddick is scheduled for her first court appearance at 9 a.m. Friday.

emcclory@recordpub.com

@Eileen_McClory