Woman indicted for manslaughter after police find five-day-old baby in boot of her car

An Alabama woman was charged with manslaughter after authorities discovered the body of her nearly one-week old baby boy in the boot of her car during a traffic stop.

Jalesa Gaines, a 23-year-old from McIntosh, was indicted by a grand jury for manslaughter Wednesday (24 January) in the death of her five-day old baby, officials from the Jackson Police Department said.

Gaines gave birth to her baby on 9 November, investigators said. On 14 November, Gaines was driving to Walmart when she was pulled over for an expired tag. According to police, Gaines gave the officer a fake name and fake birthday when she was pulled over.

When the officer figured out that Gaines had given false information, police asked to search her 1998 Honda Accord. Gaines consented to the search, leading officers to discover the remains of Gaines' newborn son.

Court documents said the baby was about five days old and had been born alive. "You're talking about a little person that never had a chance at life," Jackson Police Chief Jerry Taylor told WKRG. "It puts everybody in shock, initially."

Authorities said Gaines "hasn't said a whole lot about what happened to the baby". She was taken into custody and charged with abuse of a corpse and giving a false name to a police officer.

On Wednesday (24 January), Gaines was indicted by a grand jury on manslaughter charges and will be rearrested, police said.

Taylor told WALA that she had shown signs of remorse "to a degree but not to the degree we'd expect".

Detectives are waiting the autopsy report from the Alabama Department of Forensic Sciences to determine a cause of death, Taylor said in November. The results of the autopsy have not yet been released.

Gaines reportedly has other children.