Twenty-six year old Stephanie Collins faces a murder charge after smothering her new born baby and leaving him in a trash can. The woman's mother was shocked to find her dead grandchild that she didn't even know existed.

This case is especially disturbing because Collins knew about Florida’s safe baby law but, according to investigators, still decided to kill the child.

Shortly after midnight the new born baby boy of Stephanie Collins was just minutes old when she allegedly smothered the baby, placed him in a plastic bag and threw him away like trash. We received a phone call from a local hospital stating that an infant had been brought in by its grandmother who had found it in the trash outside the home that shared with her twenty-six year old daughter. We responded, and the infant had been pronounced dead on arrival.

Collins' mother, the baby's grandmother, told sheriff's investigators she didn't know her daughter was pregnant and was shocked to find the baby. Collins has a 9-year old son, and decided to hide the pregnancy from her family.

"Her statement had also included the fact that she had an abortion and chose not to go through that experience again."

"The Safe Haven Law here in Florida tries to prevent cases like this. Under the law, you can take any new born within seven days of being born to a hospital, Fire Station, or even E.M.S. Station and leave the child without any questions asked."

"The good thing about this act or The Safe Haven Law is that it allows for those kids to be placed in exactly what it is a safe place without the threat of them being placed in some environment that could potentially cause damage to them or potentially cause them to lose their life."

A medical worker at bay medical said that rushing the lifeless baby to a doctor was one of the hardest things he's had to do in his 26 years. Tragedies like this one don't have to happen; over 100 babies have been given up for adoption since 2000 under this law.

That's 100 lives saved from an untimely death. Stephanie Collins is still being guarded by deputies at bay medical center. Once she is released she will be charged with an open count of murder and taken to the bay county jail.

For more information on the safe haven law you can visit this website. http://www.asafehavenfornewborns.com/

Here's a link to the Florida statute as well:
http://www.leg.state.fl.us/statutes/index.cfm?app_mode=display_statute&search_string=&url=ch0383/sec50.htm&title=-%3e2004-%3ech0383-%3esection%2050#0383.50%20