Woman arrested after dead baby found in Smith County home

TYLER – The Smith County Sheriff’s Office has arrested a woman after she allegedly gave birth to a baby that was found dead in her bathtub on Wednesday. According to our news partner KETK,, the Smith County Sheriff’s Office received a call from an emergency room in Tyler about a woman who claimed to have delivered a placenta in her home earlier that day. 27-year-old Esmeralda Duran Rodriguez, reportedly had no baby with her when she arrived at the emergency room. The sheriff’s office said deputies then went to her home in north-central Smith County to investigate.

Deputies met Rodriguez’s brother and officials reported that the deputies were allowed into the home to search for a baby. Deputies found the placenta on a bed along with a severed umbilical cord, according to a press release. After initially searching, deputies could find no baby in the home but the deputies kept searching and eventually officials said they were able to find the body of a dead baby.

“Initially, no infant was located, however, due to the circumstances and the likelihood of a birth taking place at the residence, the Deputies continued searching,” the Smith County Sheriff’s Office said in a press release.  A short time later, the body of an infant was located deceased in a bathtub wrapped inside a towel which had been further secreted in a tied plastic grocery bag.”

Detectives and crime scene investigators with the sheriff’s office then arrived at the home to conduct interviews and collect evidence. Esmeralda was also interviewed and investigators determined that she didn’t tell anyone about how she delivered the baby and she reportedly didn’t call anyone to help the baby. She was then arrested for abuse of a corpse.

The body of the baby and the placenta was delivered to a forensic lab in Dallas for an autopsy that can determine if the baby was alive when delivered by Rodriguez. The sheriff’s office said charges against Rodriguez could be upgraded if her baby was found to be alive when delivered. The Smith County Sheriff’s Office is actively investigating this case.