Student charged with murdering newborn son

A 19-year-old Pennsylvania college student has been charged with killing her newborn son, whose body was found in a rubbish bin near a women’s dormitory.

The baby, wrapped in paper towels inside a canvas bag, was found by rubbish collectors on Monday, police said.

Karen Mako, a student at Clarion University, was charged with murder a day after initially being charged with concealing the death of a child and abusing a corpse.

Authorities said the murder charge was based on preliminary results of an autopsy. State police said the baby was born alive.

It was not immediately known if Mako, who was jailed yesterday, had an lawyer.

Police said Mako told them she gave birth to the child in a dormitory shower, and that the newborn did not have a pulse and was not moving.

In court documents, authorities said Mako told them she put the body in a duffel bag in her car and kept it there while she attended a baby shower (party).

It was not clear if the baby shower was intended for Mako, who police say initially denied being pregnant.