'Taking a baby's life holy death': Mom accused of damning internet searches before allegedly killing preemie newborn and dumping body on side of highway

When police in Utah went to search for the body of Estrella Meza-Ojeda's premature newborn on the side of the highway, all they found was a shred of fabric, believed to be from the blanket the 18-year-old mother allegedly wrapped the dead infant in before abandoning the body. Now, Meza-Ojeda faces a slew of felony charges including aggravated murder.

Estrella Meza-Ojeda gave birth to a premature infant unable to breathe on his own on Aug. 6 and after 22 days in an intensive care unit, doctors sent the child home with her as well as instructions for keeping the baby on supplemental oxygen, according to Utah radio station KSL. She was given both oxygen tanks and an oxygen monitor.

But less than a month later on Sept. 1,  according to Wasatch County police, Meza's roommate called 911 because the child had stopped breathing.

When Meza-Ojeda arrived at the hospital, she came without his tanks, prompting investigators later to believe this episode was likely her first attempt to kill the infant, Salt Lake City CBS affiliate KUTV reported. Law&Crime confirmed the reporting with records it obtained on Wednesday.

Welfare checks by police, as well as state health and human services, were conducted on the home twice, first on Sept. 11 and again on Sept. 14. During the Sept. 11 visit, police were reportedly unable to find Meza-Ojeda. Utah's Division of Child and Family Services, or DCFS, also went to the home a few days later.

In a statement to Law&Crime on Wednesday, DCFS called reports of the child's death "extremely troubling" but would not comment on specific case details from the past or present.

"Though we can't comment specifically on our involvement in any of our cases, generally speaking, our caseworkers conduct ongoing assessments in order to connect a family with important resources, such as parenting and support resources, which may help them get to a more stable situation. Our ultimate goal is to keep children safe from abuse and neglect through strengthening families. For example, if given the opportunity, our case management teams can often pull together extended family groups to plan for a child's care and safety or place a child in foster care until a family situation is stabilized," a spokesperson said.

When police and DCFS were finally able to get in touch with Meza-Ojeda, she allegedly told Heber City Police she struggled to raise the baby and gave the baby to a man named "Daniel" who was going to take the newborn to Mexico where she has family, according to local ABC affiliate KTVX. However, Meza-Ojeda's story allegedly changed multiple times and she was unable to give police details about "Daniel" or where she gave him the baby.

Police executed a search warrant on Meza-Ojeda's phone that allegedly showed internet searches on Sept. 3 related to killing the child and where to dump the body, KTVX reported.

"The Google search bar showed recent searches stating, 'How much time will I serve in prison for killing my baby?' 'Taking a baby's life holy death,' 'Kamas sewage treatment plant,' 'Salt Lake solid waste,' and 'garbage dumps near me,'" according to the arrest report obtained by KSL and KTVX.

Meza-Ojeda allegedly told police in a later interview that the baby was no longer alive and that she had wanted to begin a new life with her new boyfriend.

"Estrella was overwhelmed with caring for a premature baby that needed extra care to survive and wished to go back to a single, nonmother, lifestyle and begin a new life with [her new boyfriend]. She also took care not only to dispose of D.O.'s body, but also attempted to erase any and all traces of his birth, life and death," the affidavit reportedly states.

Meza-Ojeda allegedly admitted that she made a rash decision without thinking and confessed to the murder before telling police exactly where she had dumped the deceased child she had swaddled in a gray blanket.

"She stated that she then drove [her son] towards Salt Lake City and disposed of his body on the side of the road," the affidavit reportedly said. "When asked where she had disposed of [the body], she stated that she could not properly name or describe it, but agreed to show [detectives] where it was."

She directed police to a spot off the side of the I-80 highway near Parleys Canyon, KTVX reported.

But when police searched the area, they said a body was never recovered. Instead, there was just a shred of fabric where Meza Ojeda said she left the child behind.

"When [Ojeda] saw this fabric, she began to sob and try to go to the area," investigators reportedly said.

Meza-Ojeda was arrested on Sept. 23 and charged with aggravated murder, obstruction of justice, abuse or desecration of a dead human body and producing false identification.

She is being held without bond at the Wasatch County Jail. It is unclear if she has retained an attorney.

In Utah, under newborn safe haven laws, parents can give up newborn children at hospitals at any time, no questions asked. They don't even have to show up themselves but can send someone on their behalf to surrender the child. Once the local health and human services agency is notified and the missing children database is searched, according to the Utah Department of Health and Human Services, the state will become the infant's guardian until a permanent home is found.