Baby cries were heard by Oak Ridge residents from the bathroom stall in which freshman Karen Hubbard died Jan. 30 from child birth complications, a University Police report stated.
Two women, who entered the second floor bathroom Hubbard was in at about 10:30 p.m. that night, told police they heard sounds similar to a baby screaming. One of the women said the baby cries came after a loud gush of water from the stall, the report stated.
Hubbard, 19, was pronounced dead in the early morning of Jan. 30 at Sacred Heart Hospital from excessive bleeding caused by complications from child birth. Her daughter, named Julienna Marie by Hubbard’s parents, died Feb. 3 at St. Joseph’s Hospital in Marshfield.
Both students who heard a baby’s cries from the stall Hubbard was in asked her if she was OK. Hubbard told them she had an upset stomach, which both students told police was replied in a “coherent and normal” voice, the report stated.
(The names of the students mentioned in the police report were not released by the university due to protections provided in the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974.)
The two students then left the bathroom and contacted a resident assistant about their concerns over Hubbard’s condition and of an infant’s cries. The resident assistant then checked on Hubbard and notified Oak Ridge’s Hall Director Linda Best of the situation, the report stated.
A little later, the two students entered the bathroom again to check on Hubbard and heard what they thought was an infant whimpering followed by “three to four flushes of the toilet in rapid fashion,” according to the report.
Shortly after, the two students told police they overheard Hubbard asking other female residents for some Pepto-Bismol for her stomach. The two residents then assumed the whimpering came from Hubbard, the report stated.
Another resident returned to the bathroom at about 11:05 p.m. and heard, over a period of 15 minutes, grunting noises coming from the stall, the report stated.
At about 11:25 p.m., another resident entered the bathroom and pounded on Hubbard’s stall door several times without a response back. The student called the hall director and said Hubbard was unresponsive. The hall director then entered the bathroom to try to get Hubbard to respond, which she did not, and the director crawled under the stall to unlock the door, according to the report.
Emergency crews then were called to the dorm. The first officer at the scene found a pale Hubbard with no pulse in the stall with a blanket on the floor. The officer pulled Hubbard from the stall to start CPR and noticed a newborn baby in the stall’s toilet, the report stated.
The officer then pulled out the baby, whose skin was red, but she was unresponsive and not breathing. The officer wrapped her in the blanket from the floor. A female resident trained in CPR began performing CPR on the baby, the report stated.
Two officers then began trying to revive Hubbard until rescue personnel transported her to Sacred Heart Hospital, where she was pronounced dead after 1 1/2 hours of revival attempts, the report stated.
Hubbard’s roommate and close friend told police Hubbard complained of feeling ill and vomiting several times the day before Hubbard’s death. The following day, Hubbard did not go to her classes and stayed in bed most of the day. Hubbard’s roommate told police she assumed the whole time that Hubbard either had the flu or was sick from something she ate the previous night, the report stated.
Her roommate told police she did not notice anything unusual about Hubbard and did not know Hubbard was pregnant. The roommate told police she noticed Hubbard had gained some weight but that Hubbard’s weight had fluctuated in the past.
University Police Lt. David Sprick said Tuesday the department had no further comment on the situation and that he thinks this is the end of the case.
