Woman Arrested, Charged With Capital Murder in Death of Newborn Daughter

A North Texas woman is in jail, charged with capital murder in the death of her newborn daughter.

According to the Weatherford Police Department, a man called police at about 2:10 p.m. Tuesday requesting a welfare check at the home of his estranged, pregnant girlfriend. The man said the woman, identified by police as 22-year-old Ashley Nicole Blades, had contacted him via text to say she'd given birth and the baby had died.

When officers arrived at Blades' residence on the 400 block of Ball Street, she told police during an interview the child was in the trunk of her car.

The woman gave the police her car keys; inside the trunk, they found a deceased infant wrapped in a towel and placed in a plastic bag. In a probable cause affidavit, a paramedic reported the child was cold to the touch with visible bruising. Police believe the baby died by suffocation, according to the affidavit.

Blades was immediately handcuffed and detained, police said.

Police said Blades waived her right to remain silent and told detectives she had given birth to the child Monday morning at home. She admitted that, "at one point during the day she was trying to keep the crying baby quiet so she covered the infant's nose and mouth for a minute or two."

She said after she did that, "the baby never cried or seemed the same." Later that evening, Blades said she went to check on her child and found the baby dead.

Police said there was no indication Blades ever sought medical attention for the child at any time since the baby's birth.

Blades was arrested and booked into the Parker County Jail on charges of capital murder and abuse of a corpse. She is being held on $250,000 bond for the captial murder charge and $5,000 bond for the abuse of a corpse charge. In Texas, capital murder includes the murder of a person under the age of 10.

The infant, whose name has not been released, was transported to the Tarrant County Medical Examiner's Office for an autopsy. The results of that autopsy are not yet known.

It is not clear if Blades has obtained an attorney.

Ashley Blades Probable Cause Affidavit

DV.load("//www.documentcloud.org/documents/2505059-ashley-blades-probable-cause-affidavit.js", { width: 650, height: 800, sidebar: false, container: "#DV-viewer-2505059-ashley-blades-probable-cause-affidavit" }); ashley blades probable cause affidavit (PDF)
ashley blades probable cause affidavit (Text)
Contact Us