US teen arrested after newborn fatally thrown from hotel window in Paris

A United States teenager has been arrested in Paris, France after allegedly throwing her newborn baby out of a hotel window, an incident that resulted in the infant’s death.

According to a statement released by the Paris Prosecutor’s Office, the unnamed young woman was taken to hospital for surgery after giving birth and was later placed in police custody.

Authorities stated that the newborn “was allegedly thrown out of the second-floor window of a hotel” in the 20th arrondissement of Paris on Monday. “The newborn was taken to emergency care but did not survive.”

Investigators have since opened a homicide inquiry into the death of the minor. Prosecutors suggested that the young woman, an American citizen travelling in Europe with a group of young adults, may not have been aware of her pregnancy or may have been in denial about it.

A spokesperson for the mayor of the 20th arrondissement told CNN that the baby was discovered alive in a trash can near the hotel before being rushed to Necker, a children’s hospital in Paris, where the infant later died.

Local residents were shaken by the incident. Maria, the caretaker of a building opposite the Ibis hotel where the incident occurred, said she and her husband were woken by sirens early on Monday morning.

“There were police cars and ambulances,” she recalled, adding that officers later knocked on her door seeking eyewitness accounts.

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“We thought it might be gang-related, but when we learned what had happened, we were devastated,” she said. Maria, who has lived in the neighbourhood for over 30 years, described the area as quiet with few tourists. “It’s so sad.”

The US Embassy in Paris acknowledged the arrest, stating it was “closely monitoring this case.” In a statement to CNN, the embassy added, “We are deeply saddened to learn of the recent tragedy involving the loss of a young life.”

French media outlets Paris Match, AFP, and Le Parisien reported the woman’s age as 18.

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