Investigators discovered a fourth dead infant in an Armstrong County home after a Ford City woman was charged Monday, Sept. 15, with criminal homicide, according to an Armstrong County official.

Jessica Mauthe, 39, is being held in Armstrong County Jail without bail after deceased infants were found inside her former home on Oak Avenue in Cadogan Township after she had been evicted in August. She is additionally charged with misdemeanor abuse of a corpse.

According to state police, the property’s owner was cleaning the residence when he discovered a trash bag with a foul odor. After discovering something decomposing inside, the owner contacted police.

South Buffalo police and the Armstrong County Coroner’s Office responded and confirmed a dead infant was inside the bag. They also found two totes in the attic with trash bags containing two other dead infants.

Officials could not confirm the circumstances around which the fourth infant was found on Tuesday.

According to the affidavit, state police then interviewed Mauthe who said she had birthed the first infant found a year earlier. Police said she recalled the baby was making noises before she suffocated it and put it in an upstairs bedroom closet.

Police said Mauthe told troopers she had birthed two other infants who also were suffocated and placed in plastic bags before being put in totes in the attic.

The owner of the property told police Mauthe was the previous tenant, saying she was evicted Aug. 14 and he’d changed the locks Aug. 30.

Mauthe’s preliminary hearing in front of District Judge J. Gary DeComo is set for 9:30 a.m. Sept. 23.

Mauthe’s Facebook profile includes photos of her and two young boys.

This article was updated Sept. 19, 2025. A previous article said the location was Oak Lane.