Warrant: Mother gave birth to baby in toilet before placing it in bucket

TYLER – A woman arrested for abuse of a corpse after a baby was found dead in a bucket had given birth to the child in a toilet moments before, according to her arrest warrant. The warrant said deputies with the Smith County Sheriff’s Office were called to a home in the Lindale area March 15, where the baby was found, and spoke with the homeowner, who showed them a red mop bucket that had been placed outside. According to our news partner KETK, the homeowner reportedly told officials she lived at the home with her roommate, Jazzlyn Cooper-Holmes, 23, of Longview, who later told detectives during an interview that the baby found was hers. The warrant says Cooper-Holmes told detectives she gave birth to the child in a toilet around 4 a.m. on March 12 and “only looked at it once.”

The warrant said she stated she had pre-ordered bedsheets, feminine hygiene products, and Tylenol prior to giving birth. Cooper-Holmes then wrapped the baby in a towel, according to the warrant, placed it in a red bucket, and put the bucket on the ground outside. The warrant said after she cleaned up the remains of birth, she went back outside “to see if the baby was alive” before she “returned to her room and fell asleep.” Cooper-Holmes allegedly never checked on the child again, and according to the warrant, told detectives she contacted the suspected father through Snapchat and said “I was pregnant — that can’t happen again. I can’t be pregnant.” A warrant for Cooper-Holmes’s arrest was signed by a judge on March 16, and she was booked into the Smith County Jail on March 18. Her bond has been set at $1 million.