LODI, Calif — The person suspected of abandoning an infant who was later found dead in Lodi has been arrested, according to the Lodi Police Department.
Police identified the suspect as Kathryn Grace Copeland, 28, following an investigation that was launched after the deceased infant was found in a parking lot on Sept. 26.
Copeland was booked into the San Joaquin County Jail on Friday and is being held on a $5,000 bail for conceal or to attempting to conceal an accidental death, according to jail records.
The baby was pronounced deceased by first responders after employees of Commissary Azteca, a grocery store near Tokay and Sacramento streets, discovered the baby.
David Franco, one of the employees who found the baby, spotted the body of the newborn lying on the concrete. When he saw the baby, he ran to his co-worker Silva Gonzalez, who called 911 after seeing the baby on the ground.
"I tried to get close to the baby to see if it was alive," Gonzalez said. "Because I didn't think twice. I thought if he's still alive I'll take my off my shirt and put him on my chest. But after seeing that he didn't move, I didn't want to touch him so I wouldn't have any problems with the police."
Copeland is scheduled to make her first court appearance on Tuesday at 1:30 p.m.
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