LICKING COUNTY, Ohio (WCMH) — A man and woman accused of allegedly terminating the woman’s pregnancy, then hiding the baby’s corpse in a shoebox pleaded not guilty in Licking County court Tuesday.
Kalina V.E. Gillum and Braden C. Mull both face one count each of involuntary manslaughter, child endangering, tampering with evidence, and abuse of a corpse.
According to Licking County Prosecuting Attorney William Hayes, on Sept. 18, 2019, Gillum took misoprostol tablets she and Mull ordered from India with the intention to “induce labor and terminate Gillum’s pregnancy,” Hayes wrote in a press release.
Gillum was in her third trimester at the time, Hayes said.
According to Hayes, on Sept. 19, Gillum gave birth to a male child in the bathroom of the apartment she shared with Mull.
“At no time did either one of them ever call 911 or seek emergency medical treatment for the child,” Hayes wrote.
The following day, Gillum and Mull went to Licking Memorial Hospital, at which point medical staff contacted law enforcement. Law enforcement officers responded to both the hospital and the couple’s apartment.
Officers at the apartment allegedly discovered the baby’s body inside a shoebox inside a trash bag.
Officers collected evidence from the home which Hayes said shows both Gillum and Mull jointly planned to purchase the pills and terminate the pregnancy.
A Licking County Grand Jury returned the indictments for both on Feb. 5, 2020. They were both arrested without incident on Feb. 8.
Both are being held on $150,000 cash bond.