Pennsylvania mom helped teen daughter get at-home abortion and bury remains in yard, police say
A Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, mother is accused of helping her teenage daughter get an at-home abortion and bury the remains in the backyard last year.
, the Susquehanna Regional Police Department said Shannon Jones and her now 18-year-old daughter have been charged. The daughter, who was 17 at the time of the alleged crime, is not being identified by law enforcement because her case is being handled in the juvenile system.
Susquehanna police said after the baby boy was born in May 2024, the teen kept him in a box under a bed "for at least 37 hours" before she and her mom buried his body in the backyard of their East Donegal Township home to hide the pregnancy.
Authorities said in the news release that an examination of the remains could not determine if the baby was born alive. The autopsy of the newborn's remains estimated his gestational age to be around 20 weeks.
Police added that Jones bought abortion medication online for her daughter "against recommended instructions and without medical supervision."
Police said Jones was charged with endangering the welfare of children, corruption of minors and criminal conspiracy to conceal the death of a child. Her daughter will be charged with concealing the death of a child and abuse of corpse, police added.
"I want to be abundantly clear that these defendants are not being charged with performing an abortion – as the law prevents us from doing – but for their actions after the abortion," Lancaster County District Attorney Heather Adams said in the news release.
Police's news release said Jones told her daughter she was afraid of being caught, texting her daughter that she was "paranoid" people would find out.
"We're either going to get arrested or I'm gonna get divorced," the mom texted her daughter, according to police.
Officials explain charges against mom and daughter
The district attorney said the two were not charged with criminal homicide because officials could not determine if the baby was born alive.
"This was due to the state of the baby's decomposition owing to the amount of time between its birth and the recovery of its corpse, which primarily consisted of skeletal remains," the news release said.
The news release added that the mom and daughter could not be charged with crimes against an unborn child, as the law exempts criminal liability for both parties. The daughter was not charged with any violation of the Abortion Control Act because it exempts criminal penalties for any woman who "perform[s] or induce[s] an abortion upon herself."
Police began investigating in March 2025 after a witness provided police with pictures of the baby that the daughter had sent them. The photos, according to police, showed the baby shortly after birth lying inside a trash bag with the umbilical cord still attached.
"The juvenile defendant had sent pictures accompanied by text messages saying she was afraid to touch the newborn because he would still move on his own," the news release said.
A judge released Jones on her own recognize during her preliminary hearing on Thursday, authorities said.
