‘Discarded Like A Piece Of Trash’: Florida Mother Arrested In Connection With Infant Found Dead In 2018

The mother of a newborn whose body was found floating in the waters off South Florida over four years ago has been arrested, authorities announced.

Arya Singh, 29, faces a first-degree murder charge, Palm Beach County State Attorney Dave Aronberg said on Dec. 15, WTVT reported.

An off-duty firefighter discovered the infant’s body near the Boynton Beach Inlet on June 1, 2018. The unidentified child became known as “Baby June.”

"When you see a newborn infant floating in the ocean that somebody has discarded like a piece of trash, it tugs at your heart," Palm Beach Sheriff Rick Bradshaw said of the grisly discovery.

Despite efforts to learn the baby’s identity, including combing through lists of children born around the time of the baby’s possible birthdate, the case went cold until investigators began to take another look at it.

DNA helped the investigators identify a male relative of the baby who “knew nothing” about the child, Detective Brittany Christoffel said. “He knew that he had a girlfriend around that time that told him that she had been pregnant, but had taken care of it. He was thinking she perhaps had an abortion.”

Investigators surreptitiously were able to collect a sample of Singh’s DNA and confirmed she was the baby’s birth mother.

Phone records and GPS data collected from the suspect’s phone allegedly show that around 40 hours before the baby’s body was found she was in the Boynton Beach Inlet area, police said.

Singh claimed she was unaware she was pregnant until she gave birth on May 30, 2018, the day the child was found in the water, according to police.

Police said she also alleged the baby was already dead when she tossed the child in the water.