Florida Mother Left Newborn to Drown in Toilet and Went to Perform in a Play | Anne Mae Demegillo

Around 4:00am on Friday, March 6, 2026, a 911 call came in requesting a welfare check on, uh, 20 year old Anne Mae Demegillo. The caller was a friend who told dispatchers that Anne had been secretly pregnant, had unexpectedly given birth at home, and that the baby had been born alive and crying, but Anne, quote, had done something to the infant. Welcome, LaMs. Welcome to your Florida Man Friday episode. In today’s case, we’re going to talk about a Florida mother who left a newborn to die in a toilet and then left to perform in a play. But before we get into that, I want to remind you to go ahead and subscribe to this podcast on whatever platform you’re on. And what, uh, am I thinking? This is Love and Heartbreak to Homicide, your weekly true crime podcast telling you cases of relationships that have turned to murder. And I am your host, Ky, now that I’ve formally been introduced. If you’re new here, go ahead and subscribe to this podcast on whatever platform that you’re listening on. 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This episode contains severe and troubling child abuse. Listener discretion is advised. Deputies responded to the home on Florida Park Drive later that morning. When they arrived, Anne was initially hesitant to speak to them, but she eventually confessed and led investigators to her backyard where she had buried the baby. What investigators uncovered made them realize that this case had actually started the day before. Around 3am on Thursday, March 5, Anne said she began experiencing what she described as, quote, severe abdominal Pain or cramps at her home in Palm Coast, Florida. Then she went to the bathroom and gave birth to a baby girl into the toilet. According to investigators, the baby was born alive and crying. Chief Deputy Joe Burral said, quote, Anne sees it in the toilet, leaves it in there, watches it hears it cry, and waits until it stops crying and moving. Uh, like, I don’t understand how anyone could be. Have you seen a newborn? Have you? They’re just so helpless, and you want nothing more than to protect it except for monsters like this. Maybe she didn’t know she was pregnant, you know, but she gave birth and then watched it die. Watched it die. Sheriff Rick Staley also said that Anne admitted that she, quote, was hoping that the baby would hurry up and die. This is where I would lose my license. And I use that term loosely because I know they don’t have a license to be a cop, but this is where I would lose my license to be a cop, because the uppercut, that would just. It would just come out of nowhere. I just uppercut her, and then I’d be like, oh, shit. Oh, I’m so sorry. Um, I’m not sorry, but I didn’t mean to do that. Like, I have to hold my professional, but it totally would have come out of nowhere. Like, soon as she said that, I’d have just uppercutted her straight out of the chair. The baby eventually stopped moving and breathing. During that same time, Anne was cleaning up blood in the bathroom, using paper towels and hand towels because she was afraid. Her mother, who, you know, you have a mother. Imagine if your mother had just left you to drown in a toilet. You know what I’m saying? Your mother raised you and everything like that, and you’re afraid that your mother’s gonna think you made the wrong decision, I guess, given birth. Um, maybe your mother’s afraid that you’re not married and you gave birth, so you’re afraid of all of that. But to you, murder was better. You don’t think your mother, m. Might have been angry at you for murdering an infant, but you thought she would be angry at you for having it. So anyway, she was afraid her mother, who also lived in the home, would find out what had happened. Detective Shannon Smith later testified that, quote, she left it in there as she was cleaning up the blood because she was concerned that her mother would find out what had happened. Investigators said the infant weighed 3 pounds, 6 ounces and measured approximately 18 to 19 inches long. The medical examiner’s preliminary findings listed the cause of death as drowning. There was Also an abrasion on the baby’s head, which investigators believe likely occurred when the infant fell into the toilet during birth. And, you know, if you’re afraid of your parents finding out, you know, you gave birth, I’m guessing outside of marriage, or, you know, you’re, like, in college and you should be finishing your schooling. There is one easy solution to that. Don’t have sex. Because Nothing else is 100% accurate in preventing birth. Condoms, birth control. All of those give a, uh, 99.99% because they’re not going to be held responsible for the 0.01%. So just don’t have sex and do what your parents tell you to do. If you’re so scared, uh, of your parents that you will murder an innocent newborn, it’s very simple. Sheri Staley noted that the baby was born at a stage where she likely could have survived if she had not been left in the water. After the baby died, Anne placed her in a duffel bag and hid her in a closet in her bedroom. Once again, as a police officer, I would have slid across that bag desk and just. I cannot be in law enforcement. I cannot. Every day would be a struggle for me. Every day I would be fighting for my career. Then after she did that, you know, cleaned up the blood, cleaned up everything, made everything look like nothing happened, took the dead baby out of the toilet that she allowed to drown after all of that, then she continued with her day as if nothing had happened. Piece of trash. And no, I am not giving her an excuse. Oh, she was afraid of her mom. Maybe her mom was abusive. That is not an excuse to murder a baby. There are safe haven laws. You could have dropped off the baby. You could have even put the baby up secretly for adoption. There is no excuse to murder an infant. Investigators said that she went about her, quote, normal daily routine, which included attending classes at a local college. And later that day, she traveled to the Little Theater in New Smyrna beach, where she performed in the musical Anything Goes, playing the role of virtue. How ironic. At no point during the day did she call for help. But apparently she opened her mouth and told someone, and that someone had read from my unpublished book and called the cops on her. Because like I always say. What do I always say? I am not the one to tell that you committed a crime, because what am I going to do? Sing like a bird? So if you tell me a crime you committed, that clearly means that you wanted to be caught. Later that night, around 10pm after returning home, Anne wrapped the baby In a towel or blanket and buried her in the backyard in a shallow grave that was only about 4 to 5 inches deep. She couldn’t even take time to be bothered to dig a grave. She, like, she literally, like, cleared off. She took the shovel and, like, kind of cleared off the topsoil and then just put the baby there and kind of sprinkled some dirt on it. That’s what she did. Four or five inches deep. That’s it. That’s not even a foot. That’s not even a whole ruler. That’s not even half a ruler. That’s what she did. This son, uh, the next morning is when everything came to light. Chief deputy Bareill, who observed parts of the interview, described her demeanor as, quote, oddly calm and said he did not see any remorse because she didn’t care. He also said, it’s tragic for the child, for everyone, and it baffles me. I could never imagine being able to do that. Yeah, me either. Anne was arrested on March 6 and charged with aggravated manslaughter of a child. The following day, Saturday, March 7, she made her first court appearance and was ordered to be held without Bond. By Monday, March 9, investigators provided more information about what they had found. Sheriff Staley confirmed the preliminary cause of death as drowning and said, this is a heartbreaking tragedy for our community, for the family involved, and an emotionally difficult case for our team. He also addressed the broader context, saying that Florida’s safe haven law, like I said, exists specifically for situations like this, calling it, quote, a much better solution than what we are investigating today for everyone involved, but most importantly the infant who was prevented from the life they deserved. That’s what he said, and that’s what I’m saying, like, the safe haven law is in place. So she had. I mean, basically, she never had an excuse, but in this instance, I’m saying she had no excuse. There is a safe haven law. Even if she thought she was going to get caught and go to jail, she could have still dropped the baby off at the hospital. I mean, you murdered it. You’re going to get caught and go to jail anyway. Which one is better for the infant to survive? And you just get abandoning charges, but you abandoned them in a, uh, safe area, a hospital. Or do you want murder charges and have it on your conscience? Whether you care or not, it’s still on your conscience that you murdered an infant. I think people would look at someone who abandoned their child at a hospital completely differently than they would look at somebody who left an infant in the toilet to drown. One of those makes me want to beat you unconscious. And the other one, I’ll give you an excuse like, oh, maybe you weren’t prepared. Oh, maybe you didn’t have the money. Oh, maybe you were scared. So, you know. Investigators also began looking into whether Anne knew she was pregnant before the birth. Sheriff, uh, Staley said, quote, we personally believed that she knew she was pregnant based on some of the evidence we have between text messages. At that point, questions were still being asked about the baby’s father. His identity and involvement were unknown, and law enforcement said that interviews regarding him were ongoing. On Thursday, March 12, the case moved into a, uh, bond hearing, and that’s where more details came out. Detective Smith testified about Anne’s action and her mindset. She repeated that Anne had been cleaning up blood while the baby was still in the toilet. And she told the court that when she asked Anne if she could change what she did, if she could go back 24 hours, Anne responded that she, quote, doesn’t believe that she would. This is the third time Anne, I would have been in jeopardy of losing my career because I would have sprinted across that. Oh, my God. My fellow officers would have had to hold me back, like, oh, my God, I’m sorry. I know. I’m talking about beating this woman unconscious and everything. Like, I’m sorry. You have to allow me this, because this is diabolical. This is diabolical. You can’t say that you would have listened to this woman say, uh, eh, I think I’d have drowned this little baby all over again. You can’t say that you would have heard that this woman sat there while waiting for a baby, an infant newborn to drown, and she was just like, ugh, uh, could you just hurry up? You cannot tell me that you would have sat there and listened to that, and you would have just been calm and watched her and just been like, well, take her away, boys. You cannot tell me that. And, I mean, I guess if you could tell me that, then I guess you’re better than me, because I’m gonna tell you right now, I, I, I couldn’t. So the fact that she said she doesn’t believe she would change anything if she had the opportunity. That statement became a major point for the prosecution. The prosecution argued that Anne should continue to be held without bond, pointing to her actions, her lack of remorse, and the possibility of additional charges, including tampering with evidence, because technically, she did. She moved the body, she cleaned up the blood. You know, that’s all. Tampering with evidence. The defense took a Different approach. Anne’s attorney, Michael Politis, told the court, quote, there’s no diagnosable mental condition, but there is something obviously that is off. But I think as far as the community and the danger to the community, I don’t think this is. This is an isolated episode. That’s another job. I’ve already said I couldn’t hold is defense for cases like these because I would really be just setting my client up to fail. I wouldn’t even care about my case loss ratio. I would be setting my client up to fail for real. I’m not even going to lie to you. Despite the prosecution’s objections, the judge set bond at $25,000 with strict conditions. Why? Why are you giving her bond? Anne was required to wear a GPS monitor, surrender her passport, and have no contact with minors. That condition was especially strict. It included not having contact with any minors at all, even relatives, and prohibited events at her residence if children were present. What makes you think somebody who just drowned a newborn would listen to a piece of paper? She didn’t, uh, listen to the rules of life. No murder. Why do you think she will listen to a piece of paper from a dude who just gave it to her? I, uh, don’t understand why you gave her bond. And of course, at around 5.30pm that same day, Anne posted bond and was released from the Flaggart County Jail. She was seen running to a waiting car to avoid reporters. And I’m going to tell you right now, as a reporter, I would have discreetly put out my foot and tripped the shit out of her and then started taking pictures of her. As of now, the case is still ongoing. Investigators are serving search warrants for digital evidence to determine whether an had researched anything related to giving birth or disposing of a body. Before the incident, the state attorney’s office had indicated that additional charges, including tampering with evidence, are expected. Sheriff Staley also addressed how the charges were filed, explaining that Anne was charged with aggravated manslaughter of a child rather than murder. Because the evidence currently suggests the baby was born and then left to die rather than being subjected to direct physical harm. Yes, but she left it to die, purposefully watching it as it was dying and saying stuff like, I wish it would hurry up. I would then argue that that’s murder, not manslaughter. Like you’re going for semantics here. Why? Why are you giving this monster the benefit of a doubt? But they said this charge could change dependent on what further investigation reveals. Throughout all of this, officials have continued to emphasize the Same point. This was preventable. As Sheri Staley said when discussing the Safe Haven Law, it exists so that newborns can be surrendered safely without questions. And in this case, that option was never used. Listen, uh, if somehow you are somebody who’s listening to love and murder and you live in Florida or any other state and you’re pregnant or, I don’t know, two months from now, you give birth to a baby because you thought you just needed to take a massive dump and you didn’t know you were pregnant and instead you gave birth to a baby. Please, I’m personally begging you, drop the baby off at a firehouse or preferably a hospital. Do not leave it to die. The better option is to drop the baby off at a hospital. If you’re worried about how people would see you for having a baby, think about how people will think about you for murdering a baby. Do what is right, not what you think people want. And what is right is to drop that baby off. And I’m going to tell you right now, like I said, do what is right now, what people want. Nobody wants you to murder a baby. And if they do, then you don’t need to be around those people. So instead of Anne using this option of the Safe Haven Law, what happened was just a sequence of very bad decisions over the course of, uh, less than 24 hours. And now the focus shifts to what comes next as the investigation continues and the legal process moves forward. And as everything is still ongoing, everything said here is alleged. Because, as usual, I’m not trying to get sued. So what are your thoughts on this case? You heard my thoughts. Let me know yours in the comments below. Don’t forget, you can also comment over on the Patreon. Patreon.com forward/loveandmurder, where you can also subscribe to the podcast for free or. Or if you want to be a supporter of Love and Murder and keep it listener funded, keep it going on the air, bringing forth these cases that need to be revealed. Then you can join the lam fam at any of the bonus tiers. $3 a month and up. Patreon.com loveandmurder Please let me know your thoughts below. I would love to hear them on this case. You heard my thoughts. Thank you so much for listening. I know this was a surprise Florida Man Friday, but clearly you could tell that I needed to tell this case. And I will see you, uh, in the next episode. Bye.

Sources: (what the sources say)

https://www.wesh.com/article/bond-granted-florida-college-student-accused-newborn-die-burying-yard/70723489

https://lawandcrime.com/crime/oddly-calm-new-mom-watches-newborn-die-in-toilet-performs-in-college-play-as-virtue-before-burying-infant-in-shallow-grave-behind-her-home-cops-say/

https://www.clickorlando.com/news/local/2026/03/06/flagler-county-death-investigation-prompts-large-law-enforcement-presence/

https://www.nbcmiami.com/news/local/florida-woman-arrested-after-drowning-newborn-infant-in-toilet-sheriff/3778110/

https://people.com/florida-college-student-20-gave-birth-on-toilet-allegedly-let-newborn-baby-die-11921585

https://www.fox35orlando.com/news/flagler-county-newborn-baby-death-investigation-cause-of-death-drowning-mom-arrested