Mother sentenced in dead newborn case

SMITH COUNTY – A mother has been sentenced to 10 months in jail, one year after deputies found her newborn dead in a bathtub. According to our news partner KETK, the Smith County Sheriff’s deputies were alerted by a hospital emergency room in March 2025 after a woman reported she had delivered a placenta at home earlier that day.

But, when the woman, 27-year-old Esmeralda Duran Rodriguez, arrived at the hospital, staff noted she did not have a baby with her. Deputies then went to her home to investigate, where they met with Rodriguez’s brother, who allowed them to search for the baby. They found the placenta on a bed along with a severed umbilical cord, according to a sheriff’s office press release.

“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. “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.”

On Tuesday, Rodriguez pleaded guilty to abuse of a corpse without legal authority and was sentenced to 10 months in the Texas Department of Criminal Justice.