Infant boy GOODSON - minutes old - /Charged: 14 year old mother Cassidy Goodson - Bartow FL

Documents give glimpse of teen accused of killing her baby


Cassidy Goodson is accused of keeping her pregnancy secret then giving birth to
the child in the bathroom of her family home on Sept. 19.

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By Trevor Pettiford, Reporter
Last Updated: Friday, November 16, 2012, 8:48 AM
Video Stories

• New documents released in Cassidy Goodson case
  

BARTOW --

Polk County prosecutors have released new documents in the case of a 14-year-old girl accused of killing her newborn son.

Cassidy Goodson is accused of keeping her pregnancy secret then giving birth to
the child in the bathroom of her family home on Sept. 19.

The new documents, acquired with Bay News 9's partner newspaper the Lakeland Ledger, include a recorded video account from Goodson describing what happened the day she gave birth.

Goodson walked detectives through the events of that day at her mobile home. In
the investigation video, she told officers how she sat on the toilet
and gave birth to a 9.5-pound baby boy. In the interview, she said she
was afraid of losing her close relationship with her parents and didn't
want to ruin their image of her.

"So I put my, umm, hands around
its throat to make it (the baby) stop breathing," Goodson said. "I put
in on there for about a minute. And then I, umm, checked after a minute
to see if it was breathing.

"I wanted it to stop breathing so I wouldn't get in trouble," Goodson said.

Goodson, a Lakeland Kathleen High School student, was arrested Sept. 28 after
the Polk County Sheriff's Office received a call about the baby, who was
found inside a shoebox in the girl's room.

Goodson is facing adult charges of first-degree murder and aggravated child abuse. In accordance with Bay News 9's crime guidelines, her name is being used because she is being tried as an adult.

www.baynews9.com/content/.../documents_give_glimp.html

Lakeland girl accused of strangling newborn takes plea deal

Last Updated: Wednesday, December 19, 2012

BARTOW -- The Lakeland girl accused of killing her newborn took a plea deal Wednesday.

Cassidy Goodson, 15, was facing a first-degree murder charge in the death of her newborn baby. She pleaded no contest to manslaughter as a juvenile.

The judge adjudicated her delinquent, meaning she will not carry an adult felony conviction, and followed the plea deal.

Goodson was sentenced by the judge to 18 months in a juvenile facility. After her release, she could be kept on probation until she's 22.

Goodson tried to keep her pregnancy a secret from her family, but on Sept. 19, the Kathleen High School student went into labor inside her family's mobile home in north Lakeland, investigators said.

Investigators said Goodson, who was 14 at the time, admitted to giving birth to a boy and strangling him. They say Goodson showed investigators how she hid the body inside a shoe box in a dresser

According to investigators, Goodson told detectives in a recorded interview she killed the baby because she was afraid of losing her close relationship with her parents and didn't want to ruin their image of her.

http://www.baynews9.com/content/news/baynews9/news/article.html/content/news/articles/bn9/2012/12/19/accused_teen_mom_may.html

Teen gets at least 18 months for killing newborn

Published 9:49 AM EST Dec 20, 2012

LAKELAND, Fla. —A 15-year-old central Florida girl accused of secretly giving birth to a son and then strangling him will spend at least 18 months in a state facility.


Cassidy Goodson

As part of a deal with Polk County prosecutors, Cassidy Goodson pleaded no contest Wednesday to manslaughter. She had previously been charged as an adult with first-degree murder and aggravated child abuse.

The Ledger reports that Goodson was arrested in September after deputies say she gave birth to a 9.5-pound boy and then strangled him.

Detectives say the girl hid her pregnancy from her family and gave birth at her home on Sept. 19. She told detectives she choked the baby and put him in a shoebox.

The girl's mother found the baby in the box, hidden in some laundry.

Read more: http://www.wesh.com/news/central-florida/Teen-gets-at-least-18-months-for-killing-newborn/-/11788162/17844498/-/fsu6nf/-/index.html#ixzz2Fbfb7GaM