A woman who gave birth to a child found by garbage workers in Plain City has pleaded guilty to a felony.
Anuradha Manukonda, 27, of Greene County, pleaded guilty on Aug. 12 in Madison County Common Pleas Court to a single count of gross abuse of a corpse. She will be sentenced on Oct. 2 and faces up to a year in prison.
The plea comes more than three years after garbage workers found an infant girl's body on June 15, 2023, in the back of a trash truckat a home on the 100 block of Bluestem Lane.
Plain Township police said there was no indication the baby's death was a homicide but medical examiners could not determine the cause of her death because of the extent of the injuries caused by the garbage truck's compactor.
Plain City Police Chief Dale
McKee said Manukonda was staying with a family member when she gave birth but her family did not know she was pregnant. Evidence from trash collected in the area ultimately led to Manukonda's identification. McKee said the evidence included DNA from a Q-Tip and beer bottle.
Investigators haven't provided more details about the circumstances of the infant's death.
"We don't have any evidence to prove the baby was alive," McKee said in 2025. "I'm not saying the baby wasn't alive, but we just can't prove it."
Following the discovery of the baby's remains, the Plain City community named her "Madison Baby Doe." Community members came together to give the baby girl a funeral and burial attended by dozens.
Reporter Bethany Bruner can be reached at bbruner@dispatch.com.
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Ohio mother of 'Madison Baby Doe' admits throwing infant in trash
