An Armstrong County woman pleaded not guilty at a Tuesday, Oct. 28, preliminary hearing where detectives described how they found four decomposing bodies of babies when responding to her former rental home in mid-September.

Officials testified that the four babies were found Sept. 13 in a Cadogan Township home. Jessica Mauthe, 39, was evicted from the Oak Avenue residence Aug. 14.

Investigators determined all the babies found were born in the last six years with the most recent being born about a year and a half ago, state Trooper Greg Durick said.

Mauthe’s court-appointed attorney, Chuck Pascal, argued the two felony charges of criminal homicide and involuntary manslaughter should be dropped because there was no scientific evidence presented to support the babies’ causes of death.

“Like every other case, I want everybody to keep an open mind until the end of the case,” Pascal said after the hearing.

District Judge J. Gary DeComo held felony counts of criminal homicide and involuntary manslaughter, and four misdemeanor counts each of abuse of a corpse and concealing the death of a child for court.

Trooper Justin Simons said the criminal homicide charge applies to the most recently deceased baby, and the involuntary manslaughter charge applies to the first deceased baby.

DeComo did not request a mental health evaluation for Mauthe as part of her pretrial conditions.

Durick and Trooper Max DeLuca said they interviewed Mauthe on Sept. 13. The officers only knew of three of the dead babies at the time, Durick said.

Durick said they then learned how Mauthe birthed each baby in a bathroom in the home. The first baby was born about six years ago, he recalled.

Durick said Mauthe told police the baby was breathing when it was born and let out a “whimper” before Mauthe passed out and hit her head. When she awoke, she was on top of the baby, who was no longer breathing.

Durick did not say when the second baby was born. He said the third baby was born between five and six years ago and was not known to be breathing when it was born.

The fourth baby was born between one-and-a-half and two years ago, Durick said. He said it was alive at birth, citing the interviews.

Durick said when Mauthe lifted the baby out of the toilet, she covered its face and held it for about 15 to 20 minutes until it stopped making noise. Durick said Mauthe did not know if the baby died because she held the baby too tight or because she covered its face.

The babies were wrapped in towels, blankets and bags and placed in totes around the home where Mauthe’s family members could not access.

Police said for the birth of at least two of the babies, Mauthe was taking suboxone, which is typically used to treat opioid use disorder.

Simons said he responded to the home Sept. 13 when police reported possible human remains found in the home. He and Chief Deputy Coroner Bob Bellas approached a tote police had brought outside and set near the front porch.

Simons said inside the tote he saw towels wrapped around the partially decomposed remains of an infant. The tote was found in the closet of a spare room on the second floor, which Simons said was the “play room.”

Police then searched the home and found two more totes stacked in the southeast corner of the attic. One tote contained more decomposing remains of a deceased infant, and the other tote contained the remains of two deceased babies.

The following day, Simons attended the autopsy at the Indiana County Coroner’s Office. District Attorney Katie Charlton submitted eight photos from the autopsy for evidence.

The photos depict the skulls and bones of each decomposed baby.

Pascal said other than what Mauthe said, there was no scientific evidence or autopsy reports submitted that support the state’s charges.

“You can’t confess to a crime that can’t be proven in some other way,” he said.

Mauthe’s formal arraignment has not yet been scheduled.