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SALT LAKE CITY — Alicia Englert appeared in court for the first time Wednesday to face charges accusing her of dumping her newborn baby girl in an outside garbage can.
Englert is charged with attempted murder, a first-degree felony.
Defense attorneys asked 3rd District Judge Ann Boyden for another month to gather information about Englert's mental condition that may explain the circumstances surrounding the case.
"We have to get all kinds of reports — mental health reports, medical reports, school records," said attorney Susanne Gustin. "We have to investigate her mental state on the date in question. … We wanted a month to have enough time to do those things."
Boyden set a scheduling hearing in Englert's case for Oct. 6.
Englert's parents were present for Wednesday's hearing but declined to comment. They have previously said that she has "special needs," "doesn't process things correctly," and didn't know she was pregnant or understand what she was doing.
Prosecutors, however, paint a different story.
"She admitted she knew that not providing any care for the baby was wrong, but said she didn't want her parents to 'freak out' or to know that she'd been pregnant and delivered a baby," charging documents state.
The 23-year-old gave birth to the child inside a bathroom toilet in her Kearns house at midnight on Aug. 24, according to Salt Lake County District Attorney Sim Gill. After the birth, Englert wrapped the baby in a blanket and left her on the bedroom floor, neglecting to care for her until she placed her in a neighbor's trash can on the morning of Aug. 26, Gill said.
We're asking the public to be patient and to see exactly what went on here, because obviously, it's a very sad, horrible situation. We just have to understand why it happened.
–attorney Susanne Gustin
Englert was arrested that day after a neighbor heard noises coming from the garbage can and found the child inside.
Englert is being held in the Salt Lake County Jail on $500,000 bail.
Unified police announced Wednesday that the little girl has been released from the hospital and is in the custody of the Division of Child and Family Services. The child's father has not yet been identified.
"We're asking the public to be patient and to see exactly what went on here, because obviously, it's a very sad, horrible situation," Gustin said. "We just have to understand why it happened."
