Newborn baby found dead in trash bag outside KY home

A man who lives at this apartment building in Clay County, KY, made the gruesome discovery.
A man who lives at this apartment building in Clay County, KY, made the gruesome discovery.(LEX18)
Updated: Dec. 11, 2018 at 9:51 PM EST
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MANCHESTER, KY (WAVE) - A newborn baby found dead in a trash bag has the Kentucky State Police investigating what happened.

A man who lives in Manchester, KY was just getting home from work around 7:30 a.m. Tuesday, when he saw the bag lying in some leaves near the stairs to his second-floor apartment, LEX18 reported.

Paul Herd found the baby in a bag among these leaves.
Paul Herd found the baby in a bag among these leaves.(LEX18)

Paul Herd took the baby inside his house and called 911.

When police arrived, they determined the baby was dead. The child was not more than a couple of hours old, KSP said.

The newborn’s remains have been sent to Frankfort for an autopsy to determine how the baby died.

“It’s heartbreaking,” KSP Trooper Lloyd Cochran said. “Baffles your mind thinking about who could have done this and why.”

KSP has not yet connected any residents of the apartment building where the baby was found to the crime.

Investigators said they are questioning everyone in the neighborhood, and may have to expand their search to find the person responsible.

Tyler Herd, whose father found the baby, said he’s devastated.

“I couldn’t sleep at night knowing, just seeing what he’s seen, over and over in your mind again,” Herd said. “No.”

Many in the neighborhood were affected by the horrible news.

“I cried,” neighbor Sharon Wager said. “I cried. There’s no words to explain, there’s no words for what’s happened here.”

Manchester, KY, is in Clay County in southeastern Kentucky.

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