Mom charged with murder in death of baby born at office

Robert Allen | Detroit Free Press

DETROIT — The mother of an infant born in the bathroom stall at a Detroit-area office, then hidden in a sealed plastic bag near her desk, is charged with premeditated murder and child abuse, prosecutors said Friday.

Kimberly Pappas, 25, of Wyandotte, Mich., is alleged to have given birth to the live infant boy March 31 in the bathroom of Ceva Logistics in Redford, Mich., then hidden the newborn in a tote bag, according to the Wayne County Prosecutor's Office.

The baby died by suffocation, the medical examiner's office said Wednesday. Pappas has been charged with felony murder, premeditated murder and first-degree child abuse, according to Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy's office. She was to be arraigned Friday.

A Redford detective said Pappas gave birth in a bathroom toilet, sealed the baby in a plastic bag and hid newborn in a tote bag.

Employees of Ceva found blood in a bathroom stall and police and paramedics were called to the scene. Firefighters tried to resuscitate the baby before he was taken to a local hospital and pronounced dead.

Pappas, a temporary-service employee, had told people at the freight-moving company that she wasn't pregnant, Ceva Logistics director Ken L'Heureux previously told the Detroit Free Press. She remained employed by Level Professional Services as of Thursday but hasn't returned to work since the incident, according to a spokesperson with the company.

Contributing: Observer & Eccentric Newspapers of suburban Detroit.