Jury gives verdict in case of mom suspected of throwing newborn babies in the trash
Alyssa Dayvault’s babies were alive for just minutes before she threw them in the trash—it took a jury slightly longer to convict their mom of the killings.
The jury handed down a guilty verdict on two counts of homicide by child abuse on Thursday. The verdict capped two days of testimony during a trial in Horry County, South Carolina. The jury deliberated for about an hour before delivering its verdict.
Dayvault was absent for the entire trial, and now her sentence will be sealed. When she is found, Dayvault will return to court, and her sentence will be read. She faces life in prison.
The father of the children, Chris Matechen, spoke after the verdict and told the court the decision can help bring some justice.
“For two years now, I’ve lived with this type of burden with no type of closure,” Matechen said.
Chris’ father, John Matechen, also spoke to the court and railed about the fact Dayvault was allowed on bond without GPS monitoring. He noted that her seat was empty throughout the trial.
“Someone messed up,” he said.
During the state’s closing arguments, Chief Deputy Solicitor Scott Hixson referred to police interviews between Dayvault and investigators. In the video, Dayvault initially denied being pregnant and then admitted to giving birth once in 2017 and again in 2018. Both times she disposed of the babies in trash bags place in trash bins.
When people are asked about a baby’s location, the natural reaction is fear for the child’s safety, Hixson said. Dayvault had a different response.
“Her fear and her panic was just because she just realized what the rest of the world was gonna find out,” Hixson said.
Dayvault didn’t want anyone to know of her 2017 pregnancy, including medical officials and her family, Hixson said. Since nobody knew, nobody could help the child. She got away with disposing of that baby, and would have again in 2018 if not for medical complications after she gave birth at her North Myrtle Beach home.
“[She was] very, very, very, very close to working again, but a simple tear led to an infection,” Hixson said.
At the hospital, medical personal found her placenta and raised questions about the baby’s location, leading to the police investigation. Officers questioned Dayvault, who has two other children, who denied the allegations and then admitted to giving birth. She claimed to have passed out during the 2018 pregnancy, but Hixson said it’s unclear when exactly that happened in the birthing process and if the child was still alive when she awoke.
Either way, he said, it is not in question that both babies were breathing after birth and before Dayvault threw them in the trash.
“We don’t put human beings in trash bags,” Hixson said.
However, defense attorney Sharde Crawford argued the state did not prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Dayvault neglected the children leading to their death. The defense presented no witnesses or evidence during the trial.
Choosing not to share her pregnancy and giving birth at home are not crimes, Crawford said. Dayvault also planned to put the 2018 baby up for adoption. Crawford noted that Dayvault told investigators she gave birth in 2018, passed out and awoke to find the baby dead.
“He was cold. He was blue and he was limp,” Crawford said. “She panicked. She was scared. Here was this child she hadn’t told her family about because she was going to give up that child for adoption.”
The state’s medical experts could not testify about how the babies died or Dayvault’s condition at the time of the birth, Crawford said. She then reminded the jury giving birth at home and not telling others are not crimes.
“It’s not child neglect, it’s not against the law,” she said.
This story was originally published October 15, 2020 at 1:05 PM.
