Ngo (Courtesy of EPD)
EASLEY — Bond was denied to an Easley woman who is accused of having a baby in an apartment and then killing the infant with a letter opener after the delivery.
Police said first responders were called Friday night to come to a home on Nations Way in Easley for a woman in medical distress.
They said they found out when they arrived that the woman had recently given birth and her child was found dead with serious injuries.
An arrest warrant said An T Ngo delivered a baby boy in the home on Friday. It said during delivery, and after, she repeatedly stabbed the newborn with a metal letter opener until he died.
Easley police officers were called to the scene by Ngo’s boyfriend, though it is not clear if he was at the apartment at the time of the alleged murder, according to the report.
Officers arrived to find the newborn baby with severe injuries and he was declared dead at the scene, the report stated.
“Ms. Ngo did have the baby in the apartment,” Easley Police Chief Brandon Liner said during a news conference on Tuesday. “It is very apparent that Ms. Ngo is the one that tragically murdered this child.”
Ngo was charged with homicide by child abuse.
“I will be honest with you: I’ve been doing this two and a half decades, and I’ve never seen anything this gruesome,” Liner said. “I’ve never seen anything this bad.”
“We will speak for this baby,” Liner said, adding, “We will make sure that this baby will receive justice. It didn’t have a chance at life. Not long.”
The arrest warrant said Ngo cut the umbilical cord, placed the child in a trash bag, and put it in another room. Ngo was taken from the scene to the hospital for medical treatment. She was released from the hospital on Tuesday, and promptly arrested by police, according to the report.
Ngo showed “an extreme indifference to human life” by conducting this act of violence and then not seeking medical attention for the newborn, the arrest warrant said.
Easley police and the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division are investigating.
Ngo appeared before a judge for an arraignment hearing Tuesday afternoon at the Easley Municipal Court.
She was denied bond.
Reach Kasie Strickland at 864-855-0355.