An East Donegal Township mother and daughter have been charged with concealing the death of a newborn baby and then abusing its corpse after inducing a dangerous at-home abortion.

Shannon N. Jones, 50, was charged with endangering the welfare of children, corruption of minors and criminal conspiracy to conceal the death of a child. Her now 18-year-old daughter will be charged with concealing the death of a child and abuse of corpse.

Though the defendant is currently 18 years old, her name is being withheld due to her being charged in the juvenile system as the offenses occurred when she was still a minor.

After the baby boy was born in May 2024 the juvenile defendant shared pictures of him with others and kept him in a box for days before the two buried his body at their residence in the 100 block of Village Square. An examination of the baby’s skeletal remains, which were found in the residence’s backyard, was unable to determine if he was born alive.

Jones is further accused of endangering her then-17-year-old daughter by purchasing abortion medication online for her daughter’s use against recommended instructions and without medical supervision.

Neither defendant was charged with criminal homicide due to the inability to determine whether the baby was born alive. This was due to the state of the baby’s decomposition owing to the amount of time between its birth and the recovery of its corpse, which primarily consisted of skeletal remains.

“I want to be abundantly clear that these defendants are not being charged with performing an abortion – as the law prevents us from doing – but for their actions after the abortion,” said District Attorney Heather Adams. “Additionally, one of the defendants is being charged with endangering the other, a juvenile, before the abortion by purchasing abortion medication for the juvenile’s use against recommended instructions which placed her in grave danger.”

The Commonwealth is unable to charge either defendant with any crimes against an unborn child, such as homicide or aggravated assault against an unborn child, as the law specifically exempts criminal liability for both parties. Title 18 Pa.C.S. §2608 exempts criminal liability for “the pregnant woman in regard to crimes against her unborn child” and for “acts committed during any abortion or attempted abortion, whether lawful or unlawful, in which the pregnant woman cooperated or consented.”

Similarly, the Commonwealth is unable to charge the juvenile defendant with any violation of the Abortion Control Act as that law, Title 18 Pa.C.S. §3218, also exempts criminal penalties for any woman who “perform[s] or induce[s] an abortion upon herself.” A homicide charge could only be supported if the Commonwealth could prove that the baby was born alive, but in this case, the Commonwealth would be unable to present any forensic testimony that the baby was born alive due to the gestational age and primarily because the corpse only consisted of skeletal remains. Movement described by the mother in text messages could be attributed to involuntary reflexes and tightening of muscles postmortem and are not determinative of a baby having been born alive.

Speaking to police, the juvenile defendant said Jones had purchased abortion medication for her online because she was not old enough to purchase it herself, despite the two having already been told that she was too far along in her pregnancy to receive an abortion. Though the juvenile defendant repeatedly claimed to police that she was in her first trimester when the abortion medication was taken, she was estimated to be about 20 weeks pregnant at the time. The autopsy of the newborn’s remains also estimated his gestational age to be about 20 weeks.

Abortion medication is not approved for use beyond the tenth week of pregnancy due to the extreme risks it poses to the mother. A local certified registered nurse practitioner told police that taking abortion medication past 20 weeks of pregnancy would have placed the juvenile defendant in “grave danger, especially outside a hospital setting.”

Following the baby’s birth on the morning of May 10, 2024, the two are accused of keeping the newborn’s remains in a box underneath the juvenile defendant’s bed for at least 37 hours before eventually burying him in an attempt to keep the pregnancy and his existence a secret from her father and others. In the days afterward Jones told her daughter she was afraid of being caught, writing her in a text message that she was “paranoid” about their plot being discovered and that “we’re either going to get arrested or I’m gonna get divorced.”

Investigators began looking into the two in March 2025 after a witness provided police with pictures the juvenile defendant had sent them which showed the baby shortly after birth with the umbilical cord still attached and laying inside a trash bag. The juvenile defendant had sent pictures accompanied by text messages saying she was afraid to touch the newborn because he would still move on his own.

Judge Hess released Jones on her own recognizance in a preliminary arraignment today.

Susquehanna Regional Police Detective Laurel Bair filed both sets of charges.

Assistant District Attorney Fritz Haverstick will prosecute the cases.

All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty.