Police say mother smothered baby at Henderson home

Carmela Camero gave birth to a son Sunday afternoon while she was in a bathtub, waist-deep in water.

The 19-year-old's mother was at the Henderson home but did not even know her daughter was pregnant.

Camero was afraid of what would happen if her mother learned her secret.

That evening, the impending consequences of having a child out of wedlock weighed heavily on Camero. According to Henderson police, she smothered the newborn in a moment of desperation.

"It was at that time she made the decision to bring her baby close to her breast and force the breast onto his face," states a Henderson police report released Thursday. "She knew bringing him that close would block his ability to breathe and he would eventually die. She held him in that position for several minutes until she knew he was no longer alive."

Henderson police arrested Camero on Wednesday on one count of murder. She is being held without bail at the Henderson Detention Center.

According to the Clark County coroner's office, Camero's baby was named Jude, although it's unclear who named him. As of Thursday, the office had not issued an official cause and manner of the infant's death.

Nevada has a Safe Haven law that lets parents surrender babies up to 30 days old at locations such as fire stations, police departments and hospitals.

"There are options if there is an unwanted child," Henderson police spokesman Keith Paul said. "This bill was signed into law specifically to try and prevent the death of infants."

The arrest report said Camero slept with the infant after suffocating him at her home near Horizon Ridge Parkway and Paradise Hills Drive. She lived there with her mother and her mother's boyfriend.

Police were notified of the birth by officials at St. Rose Dominican Hospital, de Lima campus, who said a woman reported delivering an apparently "healthy" baby that stopped breathing. According to the report, Camero didn't alert hospital officials about her dead son until 11:38 a.m. Monday, the day after she gave birth.

Police and paramedics were dispatched to the home and discovered the dead baby.

On Sunday, the day police contend she killed her newborn, Camero said on her Facebook page: "Ugh ... Less than 48 hours till school once again begins. Damn."

She then commented to a friend that she is becoming a nurse.

Spencer Stewart, a spokesman for Nevada State College, said Camero is enrolled but has not chosen a major.

According to the police report, Camero handled the birth alone.

"She delivered the placenta. She placed the placenta in a bucket and cradled the baby as she walked to her bedroom to retrieve a pair of scissors.

She wrapped the baby in a towel. She carried the baby to her bedroom and placed him on her bed with pillows around him. The baby was not crying, but was breathing."

Camero told police she had not known she was pregnant. When she started getting back pains, she went upstairs to take a bath, hoping that would ease the pain.

The report said that during the teen's labor, Camero's mother went to check on her because she had been in the bathroom for an "extended period of time." Camero's mother knocked on the door, but her daughter told her everything was OK.

When she left the bathroom, Camero told her mother she was going to the gym.

She later fielded a phone call from her mother, who asked her to pick up groceries. Camero returned home, ate dinner, and went to sleep, the report said.

The report does not say where the baby was during that time.

When interviewed by police on Wednesday, Camero changed her story about the baby's death several times.

"She was afraid her mother was going to kick her out of the house if she found out she had a baby," the report said. "She was afraid she would be viewed as a whore for having the baby while not being married and her son would be considered a bastard child."

Similar cases involving unprepared or panicked parents have happened before in Clark County.

In June 2006, a dead baby girl was found in a trash processing area of The Mirage. Police determined that a 16-year-old girl was the mother. She had concealed her pregnancy and given birth to a stillborn infant at the resort. Police said she panicked and discarded the body.

On Mother's Day 2008, the body of a baby boy was discarded inside a women's restroom at the Excalibur. It was discovered by a casino staff member. The infant was found in a trash can, shrouded in a pillowcase and towels. The bundle was tucked inside an Excalibur gift bag. Las Vegas police have not identified the child's parents.

Contact reporter Antonio Planas at aplanas @reviewjournal.com or 702-383-4638.