Mother arrested for the murder of her newborn son

On November 27, 2007 at 6:57 a.m. the Mesa Police Department arrested 19-year-old Tiffany Lee Hecker of Mesa for the murder of her newborn son Jeremy Lee Davidson.

The tragic event unfolded on the morning of January 22, 2007 when Mesa Police Detectives responded to the Chandler Regional Hospital to investigate the death of an infant child that allegedly occurred at 2835 E. Concho Avenue in Mesa. During the initial investigation Hecker told detectives that she thought she might have been pregnant, however she never administered a pregnancy test or sought prenatal medical care.

Hecker alleges that on January 22, 2007 at 2:00 a.m. she was feeling ill while driving home from her boyfriends’ house. Later that morning at 5:30 a.m. Hecker found herself sitting on the toilet in her bathroom feeling as if something was happening. Shortly thereafter she gave birth to her infant son in the toilet. Hecker told investigators that she noticed that the baby made a sound and that she saw his “stomach” move. She picked up her newborn child out of the toilet and the baby suddenly stopped moving. She states that she held her son for a brief period of time and then put him back in the toilet. She sat back down on the toilet and delivered the placenta. She then took her newborn son out of the toilet and placed him on some towels on the floor of the bathroom. Hecker told her mother that she had just given birth to a baby and that the baby was dead. At the urging of her mother, Hecker placed her newborn son in a bag and put him in a trashcan outside. Ten minutes later she decided to put her baby in the trunk of the family car. Hecker and her mother then drove to the Chandler Regional Hospital with her baby and the placenta in the trunk of the car. Hospital staff contacted the authorities once they learned about the incident. Hecker denied drowning, smothering or injuring the baby in any way. Hecker received medical treatment at the hospital and the investigation was continued.

The Maricopa County Medical Examiner’s Office was responsible for the autopsy of Hecker’s newborn child who had been named Jeremy Lee Davidson. The autopsy revealed that there were no indications to indicate that the death of baby Jeremy was at all natural. The placenta and umbilical cord appeared to be normal and the baby was born at full term. The death of baby Jeremy was ruled a homicide.

As a result of the investigation Hecker was booked on suspicion of 2^nd Degree Murder and Child Abuse. Tiffany exercised her right to remain silent and a post-arrest interview was not conducted. As of this writing a bond amount for Hecker’s release has not been set.