Teenager facing murder charge

A Henderson teenager accused of killing her newborn son in August will be prosecuted in a murder case, Clark County district attorneys said Thursday.

Carmela Camero, 19, made her first court appearance in Henderson Justice Court on Thursday morning, where she was told of the charges against her.

She has not yet entered a plea.

Camero did not sit with the rest of the in-custody defendants who awaited their turns before the judge.

When her case was called, Camero was brought into the courtroom through a side door. Her face was shielded by defense attorneys from the Clark County public defender's office. Her hands were cuffed, and her ankles were shackled.

Camero did not speak. Her attorneys requested a preliminary hearing within two weeks, which was granted. The hearing is set for Sept. 15 in Henderson Justice Court.

In 2006, Camero, then 16, was investigated after she dumped the body of her stillborn daughter in a trash bin at The Mirage. Las Vegas police did not recommend criminal charges. They don't plan to reopen the 2006 case.

Camero told Henderson detectives that she didn't know she was pregnant a second time until giving birth in a bathtub at her house, according to an arrest report.

She said she left the baby in a towel on her bed while she went to the store to buy clothes, a suction bulb and diapers. That evening the baby started coughing, and Camero said she was worried about her mother finding out about the infant, the report said.

Afraid she would be kicked out of the house, Camero pressed the baby's face against her breast and held him there until he stopped breathing, the report said.

She slept with the lifeless infant through the night and called a hospital Monday morning to report the child's death, the report said.

Clark County prosecutor Vicki Monroe told reporters Camero would be charged with murder but declined to comment on the case.

Contact reporter Mike Blasky at mblasky@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0283.