Iowa Dad Quickly Admits Responsibility for Newborn's Drowning in Plea Deal. He Agreed To The Deal So That Police Will Not Know She Had Meth In Her System

In a deeply troubling incident from Iowa, a father has taken legal responsibility for the death of his newborn baby girl, who, according to the police, was tragically drowned in a bathtub just moments after her birth in November last year. 

This week, Brandon D. Thoma, aged 31, accepted a plea deal after initially facing a charge of first-degree murder. 

He pleaded guilty to lesser charges of child endangerment resulting in death and abuse of a corpse.

The shocking case alleges that the baby girl lost her life to prevent law enforcement from discovering that she had methamphetamine in her system, as per the Webster County Sheriff's Office's affidavit of probable cause.

Thoma, along with his now-former co-defendant, Taylor K. Blaha, the baby's mother, were arrested in early December 2022 in connection with the murder of their baby, Kayleen Lee Blaha. Blaha has been charged with first-degree murder.

Taylor K. Blaha (Baby's Mother)

As per the affidavit, from the outset, the couple didn't want the baby and intended to give her away to Blaha's sister. 

After giving birth, the baby girl was named Kayleen Lee Blaha and was born alive, crying, and moving. 

However, a series of devastating decisions followed when the baby continued to cry, leading to extreme fear of police involvement, discovery of methamphetamine in the baby's system, and potential child welfare intervention.

In a desperate attempt to stop the crying, the couple placed Kayleen in a half-filled bathtub and forcibly submerged her underwater, which tragically resulted in her death. 

The baby's body was reportedly disposed of somewhere near the Kenyon Road Bridge across the Des Moines River, and it has never been recovered.

Thoma is scheduled to be sentenced on September 1, and he could face a maximum of 60 years in prison for the two charges, as per Iowa statutes.

The trial of Taylor K. Blaha is set to begin on September 12. 

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In another news, a 19-year-old has been arrested for has been arrested for stealing a newborn baby. See details here.