Deputies say a welfare check led them to a shallow grave and an aggravated manslaughter case.
PALM COAST, Fla. — A 20-year-old Palm Coast woman was being held Friday after Flagler County deputies said a welfare check led them to the body of a newborn girl buried in a shallow backyard grave less than a day after the baby was born.
Authorities said the case moved quickly from a predawn call to a child death investigation and then to an aggravated manslaughter allegation. Investigators identified the woman as Anne Mae Demegillo and said the infant was born alive at home on Thursday before dying in a bathroom toilet. The sheriff’s office said detectives were still awaiting final findings from the medical examiner, but investigators had already concluded that the newborn was left without help and that no emergency call was made.
Deputies said the investigation began around 4 a.m. Friday when the Flagler County Emergency Communications Center received a request for a welfare check on Demegillo. According to the sheriff’s office, the caller told dispatchers that Demegillo had sent messages saying she had secretly been pregnant and had unexpectedly given birth at home. Those messages, investigators said, indicated the baby had been born alive and crying. When deputies arrived, Demegillo first appeared reluctant to speak, Chief Deputy Joseph Barile said at a briefing later in the day. She then told deputies she had experienced severe abdominal pain around 3 a.m. Thursday and delivered a baby girl in her toilet. Barile said the infant weighed about 3 pounds, 6 ounces and measured 18.7 inches long. Investigators said Demegillo told them the baby cried at first and then stopped moving.
From there, deputies said, Demegillo gave shifting explanations about what happened in the bathroom. Barile said she first indicated the newborn stopped moving after she walked away. Later, he said, she told investigators she watched the child in the toilet until the baby stopped breathing and moving. The sheriff’s office said Demegillo then placed the infant in a duffle bag in a closet and continued with the rest of her day. Investigators said she went to school, took part in a theater performance in New Smyrna Beach, and returned home around 10 p.m. before burying the baby in the backyard. Barile said the grave was only about four to five inches deep and that the infant had been wrapped in a towel. “At no point did Demegillo contact emergency services for assistance,” the sheriff’s office said in its written release.
The case has drawn attention in Flagler County because of both the timing and the allegations. Deputies said their investigation showed no one else knew Demegillo was pregnant before the birth. She told investigators she did not know she was pregnant until she went into labor, according to authorities. The sheriff’s office said detectives from its Major Case Unit and crime scene investigators later determined that she “knowingly and purposefully” allowed the newborn to drown in the toilet. That conclusion goes beyond the more limited public statement that the exact medical cause of death was still pending with the medical examiner, leaving one part of the case still unresolved as forensic work continues. Sheriff Rick Staly called the death “a heartbreaking tragedy for our community, for the family involved, and an emotionally difficult case for our team,” framing the investigation as both a criminal case and a traumatic event for first responders.
Investigators said the charge at this stage is aggravated manslaughter of a child, not murder. Barile said the distinction was based on the evidence gathered so far, which he said showed the baby was born alive, then left in the toilet, rather than being subjected to some separate physical attack after birth. That legal line will likely matter as prosecutors review reports, forensic findings and witness statements in the days ahead. The sheriff’s office said Demegillo was to be transported to the Sheriff Perry Hall Inmate Detention Facility for processing. It was not immediately clear Friday whether she had appeared before a judge, whether a defense attorney had been appointed, or when prosecutors might formally file paperwork in court. Authorities also had not publicly released the medical examiner’s timetable for a final report.
The sheriff’s office also used the case to point to Florida’s Safe Haven Law, which allows parents to surrender a newborn at a fire station, hospital or law enforcement agency. In Palm Coast, officials said, a Safe Haven Baby Box is located at Fire Station 25 and was activated on Sept. 30, 2025. Staly said there were lawful alternatives available if a parent could not care for an infant. Neighbors were left with the scene of deputies, crime tape and a backyard grave at a home on Florida Park Drive, while authorities worked through interviews and evidence collection. By Friday evening, the central questions had shifted from locating the child to documenting the baby’s final hours and preparing the case for prosecutors.
As of Friday night, Demegillo was detained, the sheriff’s office said, and the investigation remained active. The next major milestone is expected to be the filing of formal court documents and the release of the medical examiner’s findings on how the newborn died.
Author note: Last updated March 7, 2026.