A Bronx woman, Lasasha Gouldbourne, aged 31, has been arrested and charged with manslaughter, assault, and intentionally causing harm to a child following a distressing incident involving her newborn twins. Authorities revealed that these charges stem from events that transpired on September 1st.
Reportedly, Gouldbourne gave birth to a premature daughter at a friend’s residence located on Bronx Park East near Britton St. in Allerton. Following the birth, she took the unprecedented step of placing the baby’s clothing inside a laundry bag and transported the infant to her mother’s house, situated just a few streets away. Shockingly, she did not disclose the contents of the bag to her mother.
Upon discovering the laundry bag, the mother was met with a heart-wrenching sight: a comatose newborn inside. Acting swiftly, she contacted emergency personnel who rushed the infant to Montefiore Medical Center. Tragically, despite their efforts, the child did not survive.
The municipal medical examiner’s office conducted an examination and determined that the baby’s cause of death was homicide, specifically asphyxia resulting from smothering, News 12 reported.
In a harrowing twist of events, mere minutes after the discovery of the newborn in the laundry bag, law enforcement also located Gouldbourne. She is described as a mentally unstable drug user and had previously had four children removed from her custody. Upon her apprehension, she was transported to Montefiore Medical Center, where she underwent an emergency Caesarean section and gave birth to a second baby—a newborn boy, who is the fraternal twin of the deceased girl.
Following the birth, Gouldbourne spent an extensive three-month period in the hospital receiving mental health treatment. Only recently was she discharged from the hospital, and upon her release, she was promptly arrested and charged with manslaughter by law enforcement earlier this week.