A 23-year-old Primm, Nevada woman faces attempted murder and child abuse charges after she gave birth in a toilet at a home in Las Vegas and allegedly tried to kill the newborn on the way to the hospital.
Documents obtained by Law&Crime show that Ashley Hollingsworth is accused of trying to kill the baby by smothering the newborn with a blanket as the victim’s father drove to the hospital. The shocking incident began on Saturday night, March 26, when Hollingsworth gave birth in a toilet in a guest bathroom in a Las Vegas home belonging to relatives of her boyfriend. The boyfriend said that they were staying in Las Vegas so that they could be closer to the hospital, according to the Las Vegas Metro Police Department (LVMPD).
The midnight car ride to MountainView Hospital and everything else that allegedly followed can only be described as hellish.
While in the vehicle, Hollingsworth allegedly tried to kill the child by wrapping a “blanket around the baby’s head and […] pushing the blanket against the baby’s face.” The arrest report said the defendant later admitted she “pinched the blanket over the baby’s nose or face” two or three times for five or 10 seconds at a time.
When they arrived at the hospital early Sunday, Hollingsworth was “bleeding profusely” but she allegedly refused to enter the facility and took off. Authorities said it took two hours to find her.
When they did, she was clearly injured (see above).
“Ashley was wearing grey sweatpants, with a large blood stain in the crotch, a bra and her sweater pulled over her face. Ashley refused to take the sweater off her face out of fear,” the arrest report said.
When an officer removed the sweater, law enforcement noticed Hollingsworth had a “Contusion with considerable swelling to left side of her head.” A doctor believed that Hollingsworth’s injuries were self-inflicted, the documents said.
“While in UMC [Trauma], Ashley stated the she had gotten beat up by a rock,” the arrest report continued. “Ashley continuously talked about prophecies and other religious ideations to nursing staff while she was at UMC.”
The LVMPD said that further investigation revealed that Hollingsworth had made “strange” statements about the baby being evil. She also allegedly asked her boyfriend to punch her in the face. According to the arrest report, the boyfriend said that Hollingsworth punched herself in the face twice with a “closed right fist” before she stated that she was ready to go to heaven.
