Mom arrested after newborn found dead in yard

HIGHLANDS RANCH, Colorado -- Naked and lifeless - that's how a woman found a newborn girl in the backyard of her Highlands Ranch, Colorado home.

"The street was blocked off by a large cop car," said neighbor Eric Updyke.

Updyke, a father himself, was a few doors down from where the gruesome discovery was made.

"And as a father like I say my heart's breaking," Updyke told KMGH.

The Douglas County Sheriff's Office will not say how or why the baby was dropped off, but they are charging the baby's mother, 24-year-old Camille Wasinger-Konrad with first-degree murder.

Chief Steve Johnson said the woman lived in a room she rented, which is right next to the house where she allegedly dropped off the baby.

"The child was found in the backyard on the porch, no coverings, nothing, completely naked and like I said with the umbilical cord and everything still attached," Johnson said.

The heart-wrenching discovery is leaving many asking why.

"Research shows that for every baby that's found dead there are at least two more that were abandoned and never found," said Linda Prudhomme, executive director for Colorado Safe Haven for Newborns.

Prudhomme said the tragedy sheds light on the importance of raising awareness on the safe haven law that allows parents to drop off their newborns at fire stations and hospitals, no questions asked.

"The Safe Haven law gives these desperate women a safe alternative. They have the opportunity to protect their secret and their baby," Prudhomme said.

Wasinger-Konrad is being held without bond. Her next court appearance is set for Jan. 9, when she will be officially charged.