Search warrant documents state that Lillie Mae Betts contacted the police when they were searching for the mother of a dead abandoned baby left in a trash dumpster in the Save Mart parking lot on Lander Avenue on November 8, 2008.
Jessica Mae Betts, 19 of Turlock, was pregnant and supposedly didn’t tell anyone while refusing to go to the doctor.
Paul Alexander Aguiar, 22 of Turlock, is Jessica Betts boyfriend and DNA confirmed father of the baby. Aguiar has stated that he did not know Betts was pregnant or that she had the baby.
Statements show that Jessica Betts admitted to giving birth to her baby. She was questioned by Aguiar about a lot of blood in the bathroom and she answered that she was menstruating. Betts concealed that baby’s crying so nobody would hear the baby in the Aguiar’s dad’s house where they were staying.
After police released information about the case and were looking for the mother of a baby dumped in a trash bin in the Save Mart parking lot, Jessica Betts mom contacted police on November 20, 2008. Police took Jessica Betts into custody that afternoon.
Police swabbed her boyfriend’s bathroom and inside a Dodge Stratus while confiscating a bathroom rug, towels, mobile phone, and a computer flash drive.
Jessica Betts was arrested and is facing a charge of first degree murder. She has pleaded not guilty and may be sentenced to life in prison if convicted. She is still in custody and has a $1 million bail.
Jessica Betts is scheduled to appear in court on January 15, 2009 while being represented by a public defender.
