A 23-year-old woman who has been charged with killing her newborn son searched on her phone for information on “how to kill and conceal a dead baby” and was trying to hide her pregnancy from her parents, according to the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office.
Cook County Sheriff’s police have charged Alvory C. Chavez-Ramos with murder for the death of her newborn. Chavez-Ramos, who appeared in bond court Monday, is being held on $950,000 bond.
The Cook County Medical Examiner’s Office ruled the infant’s death a homicide by asphyxiation, and the Cook County Sheriff’s Office said DNA testing confirmed Chavez-Ramos was the mother of the child.
Chavez-Ramos, who is from Guatemala and has been living with her parents in unincorporated Leyden Township near Melrose Park for two years, gave birth to the newborn in a bathtub at her family’s home in the 900 block of North Prater Avenue sometime between Nov. 1 and Nov. 30, 2020, according to a news release from the Cook County Sheriff’s office. When the infant began to cry, prosecutors said she placed her hand over the baby boy’s mouth and nose for “two to three minutes until the baby stopped moving his hands and legs,” according to the state’s attorney’s office.
Prosecutors said Ramos-Chavez then grabbed two garbage bags, placed the baby boy inside and buried him in the home’s backyard between the garage and a fence.
In the statement, prosecutors said Chavez-Ramos had two other healthy children and that her parents had warned her not to get pregnant again. A search of her cell phone indicated she had looked up topics such as “how to kill and conceal a dead baby; things that send you to jail; and how long does the smell of a dead baby last,” according to prosecutors.
Chavez-Ramos’ father discovered the buried infant on May 4 when he noticed the family dog digging in the area between the garage and fence, according to prosecutors. Her father went to where the dog was digging, prosecutors said, noticed the garbage bag and saw the baby inside after he lifted the bag from the ground. According to prosecutors, the father called his wife and requested she and their daughter return home. When he confronted them about the baby, Chavez-Ramos allegedly told her father “it was me” and police were called, according to prosecutors.
According to a news release from the Cook County Sheriff’s Office, Chavez-Ramos told investigators she hid her pregnancy from her family because she did not want them angry with her.
Chavez-Ramos is scheduled to appear in court Nov. 19.
