Ohio Woman Arrested for Miscarrying in Toilet Won’t Be Indicted on ‘Abuse of Corpse’ Charge

An Ohio grand jury has opted not to indict a 34-year-old woman who faced charges of abuse of a corpse after she allegedly left a fetus in a toilet when she miscarried while using the bathroom last year.

Jurors in Trumbull County issued a "no-bill" in the case against Brittany Watts on Thursday, meaning the jury voted not to issue an indictment, WJW reported.

With the grand jury's decision, Traci Timko, Watts' attorney, told the news station she and her client were "so incredibly relieved and thankful that justice was done."

When she was 22 weeks pregnant, Watts reportedly miscarried on September over the toilet in her home.

Watts appeared unwell later that day and went to the hospital — her fourth visit to the facility within a week.

Timko said Watts was previously at the hospital because she was bleeding, and was informed by a doctor prior to her miscarriage that the fetus was not viable and would not survive, WJW reported.

When Watts appeared the hospital again after the miscarriage, a nurse contacted Warren City Police, according to the Washington Post.

“I had a mother who had a delivery at home and came in without the baby and she says the baby’s in her backyard in a bucket,” the nurse said, according to recording of a call obtained by the Post, the outlet reports.

“I need to have someone go find this baby, or direct me on what I need to do.”

Watts told the newspaper she delivered the approximately 15-ounce fetus, and removed what was left of it in her toilet including blood, stool and tissue, placing it outside, before cleaning the bathroom and showering. She said she did not double check the toilet.

Authorities said they later found the fetus stuck in the toilet, WJW reported. The toilet was seized evidence.

Investigators spoke with Watts at the hospital, and two weeks later, she was arrested for felony abuse of a corpse, according to the Post.

She pleaded not guilt and was reportedly released on $5,000 bond.

The grand jury's decision on Thursday not to indict Watts follows court testimony from a forensic pathologist, Dr. George Sterbenz, who said in November the “fetus was going to be non-viable” and that “the fetus was too young to be delivered,” according to WKBN.

Sterbenz also said an autopsy revealed the fetus died before passing through the birth canal and had no injury.

If she was indicted and convicted, Watts faced up to a year in prison and a fine of up to $2,500, Timko told the Post.

“I pray that my story makes a difference, and no other woman ever faces this reality,” Watts, a medical recptionist, told the newspaper last year.

“However, if it comes to that, she has my support.”

Up to a quarter of all pregnancies end in miscarriage, with most occurring early in the pregnancy, according to the National Library of Medicine. Less than 5% of pregnancies in the later stages, like Watts’s, end in miscarriage, according to the Cleveland Clinic. 

Ohio is one of only a few states with laws requiring pregnancy byproducts to be buried or cremated.

But the statutes are usually applied to a clinic or doctor’s office, rather than to a woman who suffered a miscarriage at home, according to the Post.