Teen Mom Breaks Down Admitting To Smothering Secret Newborn After Bathroom Birth

Asbury Park Press

In a New Jersey court room on Monday, 18-year-old Jada McClain tearfully admitted to smothering her newborn son last year, shortly after giving birth to him. The incident happened in March 2019, after McClain went into labor at home and gave birth to the boy in her bathroom. As she stood before a judge and recalled her actions that day, McClain could not hold back her emotions.

McClain admitted to pressing down on her son's chest until he stopped breathing, just minutes after she delivered him.

The incident happened March 29, according to the Asbury Park Press. Authorities later discovered that the teen mom had hidden the entire pregnancy from her parents since she learned of it in July 2018. At the time, McClain was a student at Neptune High School. When she gave birth eight months later — to the baby she later named Legend — she was just 17 days away from turning 18.

During her hearing Monday, McClain described through tears how she gave birth in a downstairs bathroom at her mother's home before taking her son and placing him on her bed. Once there, she smothered him to death. 

The baby's father and McClain's boyfriend, 19-year-old Quaimere Mohammed, was also crying as McClain explained what happened.

Mohammed also faces a five-year prison sentence for helping McClain dispose of their son's body.

Mohammed also entered a guilty plea on Monday, People reported.

A statement from the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office further described his role in the crime:

“Later that morning [on March 29], the two disposed of the child’s body in a dumpster on Monroe Avenue in Asbury Park. Investigators later recovered surveillance video which captured Mohammed disposing of the child’s body near the Washington Village apartment complex [in Asbury Park, New Jersey].”

Mohammed admitted in court that McClain had never seen a doctor throughout her pregnancy, so they were unaware of her due date before she gave birth, according to the Asbury Park Press. He also said the couple drove to the beach to console each other before placing their son's body in a dumpster.

Police only discovered the crime after a friend of the couple passed along a disturbing photo of the newborn.

The friend had allegedly seen a photo of Legend, who appeared to be blue, on McClain's social media page. It immediately drew concern and led the unnamed friend to contact police, who began an investigation.

“Investigators learned that the contents of the dumpster, including the newborn’s remains, were transported to the Monmouth County Reclamation Center in Tinton Falls, where they were compacted and buried,” a statement from the state prosecutor's office explained. “The infant’s body was never recovered.”

McClain ultimately confessed after being questioned by police.

Both members of the couple will officially be sentenced in March, and Assistant Monmouth County Prosecutor Joseph Competello told the Asbury Park Press that when the time comes, McClain faces a 10-year prison sentence under a plea bargain.

“This case is a horrible tragedy,” Monmouth County Prosecutor Christopher J. Gramiccioni wrote in a statement obtained by People. “An infant is dead and two young people are going to prison. None of this should have happened. Young persons who are not yet ready for parenthood need to understand that there are safe, legal and completely confidential ways to give up custody of a newborn.”