In early March, as a college student who loved the stage, Anne Mae Demegillo’s life completely went off the rails. After claiming for some time that she didn’t even know she was pregnant, the 20-year-old admitted to giving birth at home in the toilet and drowning her newborn. After keeping the baby in a duffel bag in her closet and going about her day, she reportedly made the heinous decision to bury her baby in a shallow grave in her backyard. On April 6, 2026, Demegillo was indicted by a grand jury on charges of first-degree premeditated murder for the death of her newborn.
The 20-year-old faces first-degree murder charges in the death of her baby.
According to a post shared on Facebook by the Flagler County Sheriff’s Office, following a month of investigation, a grand jury has indicted Demegillo, who lives in Palm Coast, Florida, for first-degree murder.
The sheriff’s office reported that Demegillo had previously been arrested on charges of aggravated manslaughter but detectives were able to uncover additional evidence, including searches on Demegillo’s phone for “newborn premature babies” and “Palm Coast OBGYN” that led authorities to believe this act was premeditated.
Demegillo’s was handed a “true Bill” of first-degree premeditated murder, aggravated child abuse, and failure to report death of a person with intent to conceal the death or alter evidence surrounding such death, per the news release.
All of this is so incredibly shocking.
Demegillo allegedly had photos of Casey Anthony saved on her phone.
Just when you thought you’ve heard it all, there was another astonishingly dark detail dropped about this case.
The sheriff’s office also stated in the news release that authorities located images of Casey Anthony on Demegillo’s phone and newborn babies, which “suggest searches on the death of a child and subsequent investigation.”
Anthony is a Florida mother “who was acquitted of murdering her 2-year-old daughter, Caylee Anthony, after a sensational 2011 trial” but faced a conviction of lying to the police, per People.
There are certainly some similarities to be found between these two women and what happened to their children.
Authorities calls this a ‘tragic case’ that will ‘shock you to your core.’
According to News 6 Orlando, investigators believe that no one else in the household knew that Demegillo was pregnant, but it became apparent quickly that the student was aware of her pregnancy and “she did not want to be pregnant and was trying to figure out how to dispose of the fetus before birth.”
In the news release posted, Sheriff Rick Staly called this “one of those tragic cases that shock you to your core that a mother would allow a newborn to die because the newborn was a distraction to her life. It’s hard to comprehend how a mother would choose to watch her infant drown instead of lifting the baby out of the toilet.”
Demegillo turned herself in at the Sheriff Perry Hall Inmate Detention Facility and will be held on bond pending a court hearing.
It’s difficult to imagine even putting yourself in this kind of situation because the choices she allegedly made along the way all led to such a devastating event.
If you suspect child abuse, you can call the Childhelp National Child Abuse Hotline at 1-800-422-4453 (1-800-4-A-Child) or go to Childhelp.org. The hotline is available 24/7.
