Teen mom killed newborn, Mesa police say

Mesa police arrested a teen mother Tuesday morning on suspicion of killing her newborn son in January after giving birth on a toilet.

VIDEO: Tribune reporter Nicole Beyer interviews Tiffany Hecker's father

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Mesa police detective Chris Arvayo said officers arrested Tiffany Lee Hecker, 19, at 7 a.m. after the Maricopa County Medical Examiner ruled the baby's death a homicide.

Arvayo said the baby's grandmother urged Hecker to dump the baby in the trash after Hecker pulled the boy out of the toilet and laid him on some towels in the bathroom at her parents' home. The incident took place Jan. 22 at 2835 E. Concho Ave. near Broadway and Lindsay roads in Mesa.

Arvayo said Hecker initially put her son in a garbage bag and threw him away, but the teen mother later felt guilty and decided to take the baby to Chandler Regional Hospital.

Hecker and her mother put the baby in the trunk of their car and drove to the hospital, Arvayo said. Hospital officials then contacted police, and the investigation began.

During the initial investigation, Arvayo said Hecker told detectives that she thought she might have been pregnant, but she never administered a pregnancy test or sought prenatal medical care.

Hecker told police she started feeling ill at 2 a.m. while driving home from her boyfriends’ house. Later that morning at 5:30 a.m., she found herself sitting on the toilet in her bathroom feeling as if something was happening.

Shortly thereafter she gave birth to her infant son in the toilet. Hecker told investigators that she noticed that the baby made a sound and that she saw his stomach move. She told police she picked up her newborn child out of the toilet, and the baby suddenly stopped moving.

She told police that she held her son for a brief period of time and then put him back in the toilet. She then sat back down on the toilet and delivered the placenta.

She then took her son out of the toilet and placed him on some towels on the floor of the bathroom. Hecker told her mother that she had just given birth to a baby and that the baby was dead. At the urging of her mother, Hecker placed her newborn son in a bag and put him in a trash bin outside the home, Arvayo said.

Police records indicate that the grandmother, Joy Hecker, did not check on the baby or even look at it before telling her daughter to throw it away. Joy Hecker has not been charged with any crime.

About 10 minutes after the baby was put in the trash, Tiffany Hecker decided to put the boy in the trunk of the family car. Hecker and her mother then drove to the Chandler Regional Hospital with the baby and the placenta in the trunk of the car.

Hecker denied drowning, smothering or injuring the baby in any way, Arvayo said. Hecker received medical treatment at the hospital and the investigation was continued.

The Maricopa County Medical Examiner’s Office was responsible for the autopsy of Hecker’s child. The autopsy revealed that there were no indications that the Jeremy's death was "at all natural." The placenta and umbilical cord appeared to be normal and the baby was born at full term, Arvayo said.

Arvayo said Hecker was arrested on suspicion of second-degree murder and child abuse. Hecker exercised her right to remain silent, and Arvayo said a post-arrest interview was not conducted. As of this writing a bond amount for Hecker’s release has not been set.

Check back at evtrib.com later today for additional details in the case, including comments from the baby's grandfather.