Officer: Weaver claimed she had miscarriage after birth

ZANESVILLE - Days after she gave birth to a full-term baby in her sorority house at Muskingum University, Emile Weaver and her mother went to Camden Clark Medical Center in Parkersburg, West Virginia, and told the medical staff Weaver needed care for a miscarriage.

Shane Semones, a police officer with Parkersburg Police Department, testified in Muskingum County Common Pleas Court on Thursday that he was dispatched to the Camden Clark emergency department regarding a woman, Weaver, who said she had a miscarriage, although medical tests confirmed she had carried a baby to term.

"Emile said her miscarriage had happened three days prior and it happened at college in her room," Semones said.

Weaver reportedly told Semones her stomach cramped and she went to the bathroom, but she said she didn't realize she had a miscarriage until she saw the mass of tissue in the toilet.

"She said it kind of looked like a baby and was approximately 4 inches in length," he said.

Weaver said she told her roommate about the miscarriage, who called Weaver's mother, Sandra Potts, and emergency services, Semones testified. She reportedly told emergency medical personnel she was fine, and they left after collecting her information.

Semones testified he also spoke with Potts, who told him Weaver had a miscarriage April 25 at her home in Clarington. Weaver became ill, went into the bathroom and sat on the toilet, where she passed out for about two hours, Potts said. EMS personnel were called, and responders collected the fetus sample and left.

Semones called the Monroe County Sheriff's Office to ask whether they responded to Weaver's home, and they did not. A deputy told Semones about a case at Muskingum University concerning a female student who had a baby and "killed it," Semones said. He confirmed the case with the Muskingum County Sheriff's Office.

He also contacted Clarington EMS, and officials there confirmed they did not respond to Weaver's home.

Weaver, 21, is facing charges of aggravated murder, abuse of a corpse and two counts of tampering with evidence, all stemming from the death of her newborn daughter on April 22, 2015. She is accused of placing the baby in a small garbage can shortly after giving birth and then wrapping it in a trash bag and leaving it outside her residence on campus. The baby died of asphyxiation, according to the preliminary autopsy report.

Testimony in the trial began Wednesday morning and continued through Thursday, with Judge Mark Fleegle presiding.

Muskingum County Prosecutor Michael Haddox played a recorded interview between Weaver and Detective Todd Mahle, with the Muskingum County Sheriff's Office, conducted on April 23, 2015, the day after Weaver gave birth. It was the second interview between Weaver and Mahle, who interviewed her the previous night, after the baby was found, for several hours.

Weaver maintained throughout the interview that, while it crossed her mind, she did not know for sure she was pregnant. She did not show the classic symptoms of pregnancy, she said, such as stretch marks, cravings or nausea, and she did not gain much weight. Mahle told her he didn't believe that she didn't know.

"I don't want you to lie to me because I think you knew you were pregnant," he said. "I don't believe you went to the bathroom and had this baby and it was a complete surprise."

On the tape, she admitted the baby was born alive, at about 8 a.m. April 22, 2015, in the half-bathroom in the Delta Gamma Theta sorority house. She said she gave birth in the toilet, and the baby was moving a little and breathing a little, so she put the baby on the floor, pulled out the placenta and tried to clean up the blood in the bathroom.

She said she went to the kitchen to get a knife to cut the umbilical cord, and, when she returned, the baby wasn't moving much or breathing.

"Did you do anything physically ..." Mahle said.

"I didn't do anything physically," Weaver said. "Obviously, I didn't do much at all."

She said she put the paper towels she used to clean up the blood in a trash bag, and she was concerned about how much blood she had lost. Mahle asked why she didn't call 911, and Weaver did not have an answer.

"Well, there's a reason why you didn't," Mahle said.

"I thought the baby was gone," Weaver said.

On the tape, Weaver cried during the interview, but otherwise appeared matter-of-fact. Mahle said in court that during his first interview with her, she was polite, cooperative, quick to answer and unemotional.

"She just showed no emotion," he said.

The night of April 22, 2015, four of Weaver's fellow members of Delta Gamma Theta sorority went out for ice cream and discussed the pregnancy rumors surrounding Weaver.

Madison Bates, one of the four girls, testified they had suspected Weaver was pregnant for several months, but they were pretty sure at that point that she was, and they were starting to get concerned about how Weaver was acting.

“When we got back to the (sorority) house, I suggested what if she threw (the baby) away,” Bates said in court. “They kind of thought it was a ridiculous idea, but Elise said she would go look, and I said I would go with her.”

A large trash can by the side of the house was empty, but there was a trash bag sitting on the ground, Bates said. Initially, she thought the trash bag was from one of the girls in the house getting sick the week before.

The bag was tied up tight, but Bates and Elise Zimmerman, who testified in court on Wednesday, ripped a hole in the bag. Bates saw just trash at first.

“We kept shaking the bag, and I saw a baby’s foot,” she said.

They went back to the car to tell the other girls.

“We told them what we found and they didn’t believe me,” Bates said.

Zimmerman went to check the bag again.

“She said she saw a baby,” Bates said. “She said: ‘It has hair and eyes.’ ”

The four girls called Stacey Allan, the director of Greek Affairs on campus, and she instructed them to come to her house, Bates said.

Allan testified on Thursday that she received the call at about 9 p.m. The police were called, and Allan said she went to scene at the Delta Gamma Theta sorority house, where she saw Weaver.

Muskingum County Assistant Prosecutor Ron Welch asked what Weaver’s demeanor was like when Allan saw her.

“It was not what I was expecting,” Allan said. “It was like it was an everyday occurrence for police to be at her house.”

The trial is scheduled to continue at 8:30 a.m. Friday with more testimony.

ksnyder2@zanesvilletimesrecorder.com

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Twitter: @KL_Snyder