Md. Cabby Charged With Murdering Her Stillborn Baby

July 31, 2007 — -- Even though preliminary medical reports indicate that her baby was stillborn, an Ocean City, Md., woman still faces murder charges under suspicion that she killed her child before giving birth to it.

Christy Freeman thus far only faces murder charges for the death of the one stillborn child, but police found the remains of three other preterm infants during a search of her property last week. She has been charged under a 2005 statute that criminalizes harming a viable fetus.

Police have not revealed what they think Freeman did to the unborn child, but there is suspicion that "she could have taken an action that could have caused her to deliver a stillborn baby," Ocean City police spokesman Vance Row said.

Police refused to offer details on whether Freeman purposely ended the pregnancy, and when pressed on what specifically she might have done to the unborn child, Row responded: "Use your imagination."

Freeman was denied bond by an Ocean City district court judge today and will remain in jail at least until her preliminary hearing Aug. 27.

At the hearing Freeman said she was innocent, though she did not explain why the remains were in her house.

"I want to clear my name in this case," she said.

The preliminary medical report found that the baby was 26 weeks into the pregnancy, and was thus deemed viable, making Freeman eligible for the murder charge.

"We will have to prove, beyond a reasonable doubt, that she did something to cause that baby to be stillborn," Worcestor County state's attorney Joel Todd said Monday.

Freeman told police last Thursday that she had delivered a deformed baby and had flushed its remains down the toilet. When police went to her house to investigate, they found a dead infant child under a sink.

After finding the dead infant, police searched the house where Freeman lives with her boyfriend and their four children and found the remains of three more preterm infants throughout the property. The FBI and Ocean City police are still excavating the property looking for additional remains.

Row said that cadaver dogs on the site appeared to smell something that has led investigators to believe there may be more remains on the property. He said the FBI expects to remain on the premises until Wednesday.

Retaliatory Vandalism

Freeman is the owner of Classic Taxi in Ocean City, and four of her company's six cabs were vandalized last night when their windows were broken as they sat outside the company offices.

Several residents call Ocean City a tight-knit town, and Steve Morris, a dispatcher for a competitor Ocean City cab service, Dave's Taxi, said the vandalism was likely a retaliatory attack against a woman who many feel violated their trust.

"This town is pretty close-knit. Knowing this town I wouldn't be surprised" that the vandalism happened, Morris said.

Classic Taxi does have a security camera installed, and the tape from last night has been turned over to the police, according to a man who picked up the phone at Classic Taxi and identified himself only as Bob.

'This Is Unbelievable'

An employee at a convenience store Freeman used to frequent as many as two to three times a day said that he, like others interviewed by ABCNEWS.com, had no idea that Freeman was pregnant in the months before the incident.

Rajib Rimal, who works at the 7-Eleven directly across the street from Freeman's home, said he saw her last Tuesday -- two days before she was arrested -- and did not notice anything out of the ordinary, other than that Freeman seemed very fatigued. But he said this was likely caused to the long shifts she worked at her cab company.

He said that she was a heavy smoker who bought one or two packs of Marlboro Light 100s in his store every day, even in the past few months when she was pregnant.

He said news of the charges shocked him.

"This is unbelievable, this is shocking. When she was accused I didn't think it was true," Rimal said.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.