A Norwalk woman accused of helping her father place her neglected newborn baby in a trash bag, where he was left to die in a roadside ditch, has pleaded guilty to second-degree murder.
Norwalk police arrested Megan K. Staude, 26, and father, Rodney A. Staude, 66, in March 2023 and charged them with first-degree murder. Police said they began investigating after receiving a call from Megan Staude’s coworkers regarding the health and safety of the newborn.
They said her father, who was later found incompetent to stand trial, at first denied knowledge of the birth, then said the baby had died on the way home from the hospital.
He said he then placed the deceased baby in a plastic bag and disposed of the body “in a ditch south of Norwalk,” according to a police complaint. He took police to the 5300 block of Delaware St., where, using a cadaver dog, they discovered the deceased newborn’s body in the tied trash bag.
Police obtained a search warrant of the family home in Norwalk, where they found signs that a birth had taken place. A witness also shared a texted conversation with Megan Staude in which the witness asked her “was the baby alive when you left him?” and she replied “a little,” the complaint said.