COURTESY ST. LOUIS COUNTY POLICE
Maya Caston was charged with four felonies in the deaths of her babies.
A 25-year-old St. Louis County mom killed her twin newborns, and then lied to police to cover it up, authorities say.
Maya Caston called police at 7:29 a.m. on January 8 to report a medical emergency, police say. Officers arrived and found two babies, one boy and one girl, who were already dead. Police say Caston told investigators she went into labor unexpectedly and the twins were stillborn.
Investigators were skeptical from the start. In a statement on January 9, police said that "while it is possible that this was a medical event, the incident has been re-classified to a suspicious death." By January 11, they had determined the children had been carried to full term and neither baby was stillborn.
On Sunday, St. Louis County prosecutors filed four felony charges against Caston: two counts second-degree murder and two counts child abuse or neglect. In court documents, prosecutors allege that Caston had wrapped a towel around the mouths and noses of the babies, called Baby Boy Caston and Baby Girl Caston in the filing, and failed to provide them food or medical attention, causing their deaths.
It all happened sometime between January 6 and January 8 in the 2100 block of Roundtree Drive, a cul-de-sac neighborhood north of Christian Hospital in far north county, authorities say.
Caston was jailed on $500,000 cash-only bond.
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