Northern Kentucky mother, 2 others arrested after death of newborn baby
Content Warning: Contains disturbing information.
A year-long investigation into the death of a newborn baby led to the arrest of three people in Pendleton County, including the mother, according to Falmouth Police Chief Marty Hart.
Kimberly Shepperd, 28, is facing charges of incest, concealing the birth of an infant and abuse of a corpse; Allen Newkirk, 62, is being charged with incest; Billy Shepperd, 82, faces one count of abuse of a corpse.
All three people were arrested in April, sometime last week.
“I’ve been doing this for about 30 years, and this is the first case I’ve ever had like this,” the chief said. “And I’ve done quite a few murder cases and sexual abuse cases and things over the years - even a few high-profile cases - and this, to me, was one of the more disturbing ones that I’ve been on.”
The case began on March 1, 2023.
Pendleton County dispatchers received a 911 call around 7:30 p.m. from Harrison Memorial Hospital’s emergency room requesting officers to perform a welfare check at a location in the 500 block of Montjoy Street, according to a news release.
Hospital emergency room staff suspected a newborn infant may be in distress because a Falmouth woman, now known as Kimberly, came to the hospital complaining of suffering from a miscarriage, the release states.
Upon further evaluation, the nursing staff thought the woman may have given birth and there may be a newborn infant that had been left behind, Pendleton County EMS spokesman Rob Braun said.
Falmouth police responded to the vacant Montjoy Street home and found a newborn baby boy not breathing under a blanket on a mattress in a vacant house.
“The lady in question had just given birth to the child,” Chief Hart explained. “The child was on a mattress where the lady had been lying. It was a newborn infant. The placenta was still attached to the baby.”
The infant was transported to Harrison Memorial Hospital where he was pronounced dead by the Harrison County Coroner.
On Tuesday, Falmouth Police Chief Marty Hart revealed that Kimberly was having an incestual relationship with Newkirk, her maternal uncle. He also mentioned that Billy is her grandfather.
When the baby died, a criminal investigation began.
Interviews, forensic samples, DNA samples, follow-up interviews and physical evidence were all collected by police. DNA and the infant’s body were sent to the medical examiner with the Kentucky State Police Crime Lab, the chief said.
It took nine months for the DNA results to come back, which confirmed that Kimberly and her uncle were the parents of the child.
All three suspects were taken to the Bourbon County Jail. Billy posted out of jail on a $5,000 bond and Kimberly was bailed out on a $20,000 bond. Newkirk is still there on a $20,000 bond.
As of now, the infant’s cause of death is undetermined.
On Monday, the day before the police chief’s news conference, a family moved into the once-vacant home on Montjoy Street.
“We are dumbfounded,” said Serenity Holden, who now lives at the home where the baby was found in 2023. “Me being a mother of two myself, it has me an emotional wreck. I have been crying all day since I found out about it.”
Holden said she and her family tried to back out of the deal on the Montjoy Street home but were told it was too late.
Enquirer media partner Fox 19 provided this report.
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Northern Kentucky mother, 2 others arrested after death of newborn
