A South Carolina woman skipped her murder trial this week, but a jury found her guilty anyway of killing her two newborn babies in 2017 and 2018 and dumping their bodies into the trash.
Alyssa Anne Dayvault, 32, turned herself in to North Myrtle Beach Police on Friday, a day after the trial was completed, the Myrtle Beach Sun News reported.
Dayvault was arrested after she gave birth to a boy in December 2018, and the child “took multiple gasping breaths” before she disposed of him, as CrimeOnline previously reported. While investigating that incident, Dayvault told police that she had also thrown away a newborn girl in 2017.
Police learned of the 2018 incident when Dayvault developed an infection after the birth and had to go to a hospital. She initially denied being pregnant, but soon admitted what had happened.
“I was so scared, I don’t know,” Dayvault told police in an interview that was played during the trial, according to the Sun News. “I wasn’t thinking. I don’t have an explanation. I wasn’t thinking. I was too scared.”
After police learned about the 2017 incident, they obtained medical records and learned that the fetus had a healthy heartbeat during the third trimester.
Authorities issued a bench warrant for Dayvault’s arrest when she was a no-show for the trial, which proceeded without her, the Sun News said. The jury found her guilty of two counts of homicide by child abuse on Thursday. Her sentence was placed under seal and will be read when she returns to court.
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[Feature Photo: Alyssa Dayvault/Horry County Sheriff’s Office]
