Friend Calls Pregnant Woman Who Allegedly Took Rat Poison a 'Happy Lady'

Jan. 4, 2011 — -- An Indiana woman is in a psychiatric ward after allegedly eating rat poison a week before her newborn daughter died.

"She is considered a suspect in the death of her daughter," Indianapolis Police Department spokesman Kendale Adams said today.

Charges have yet to be filed.

Bei Bei Shuai, 34, took the rat poison last month while pregnant, police said. After telling friends about the poison, she was rushed to St. John's Hospital in Andeson Dec. 23, according to a police report. Police do not know how far along Shuai was in her pregnancy.

Shuai was then transferred to Methodist Hospital in Indianapolis, where she gave birth to her daughter, Angel Shuai, on New Year's Eve. The girl died Sunday at about 1:30 a.m. and her death has been ruled a homicide.

Both child protective services and police are investigating the baby's death. Child Protective Services was notified about the poisoning after the woman transferred hospitals, Adams said.

Police were not made aware of the details until a coroner notified police that the baby had died of poisoning.

A friend of Shuai's, who did not want to be identified, told ABCNews.com that she had known the woman for 10 years.

"We talked to her on the phone, we never thought she would do that," the friend said. "She was always like a happy lady."

Police said they are still investigating whether she intended to kill herself or the baby.

The friend said this was Shuai's first child and that she had been working at a restaurant.

Woman Takes Rat Poisoning While Pregnant

Police said Shuai was an immigrant who had been in the country for 10 years. She is reportedly from the Pacific islands. Her friend said she is originally from China.

"She has no family in the area that we know of," Adams said. "We don't believe she's married. There's no information about the father [of the baby]."

The hospital where Shuai is reportedly a patient would not comment on the case.