18 year old Lillian Elizebeth Sosa of Talley Road, Smithville is in the DeKalb County Jail, charged with second degree murder in the death of her newborn baby on Friday night.
Sosa’s bond is set at one million dollars.
She will appear in DeKalb County General Sessions Courton Thursday, November 8th, unless a bond reduction hearing is held earlier.
Sosa was released from the Cookeville Hospital today (Monday) after undergoing emergency surgery Saturday.
Smithville Police Chief Richard Jennings held a press conference with local and Nashville media Sunday afternoon to provide more details about the case and the investigation that led to Sosa’s arrest.
Chief Jennings says Sosa, an Hispanic who speaks little or no English, has only been in this country for about a month and lives with relatives at 342 Talley Road, Smithville. She was recently employed as a waitress at the El Rancho Restaurant at 1101 West Broad Street, Smithville and had only worked there one day last week and for an hour and a half Friday, before leaving the restaurant after giving birth to the child and dumping it in a ladies restroom trash can.
According to Chief Jennings, Sosa apparently locked herself in the ladies restroom of the restaurant and gave birth to the child, possibly between 7:20 p.m. and 7:45 p.m. She then came out of the restroom, told her boss that she needed to leave because she was sick, and called for someone to give her a ride home. Sosa’s aunt reportedly came to the restaurant and picked her up.
Jennings says the child was discovered around 9:20 p.m. by a waitress, Karla Leon, who went into the ladies rest room to clean up, as staff were preparing to close the restaurant for the night. Leon then reported her discovery to the manager and they called 911. “The officers arrived and talked to the restaurant manager, Alfredo Villa. He said that the baby was discovered when one of the employees was cleaning up the restroom at the end of the business day. Customers had already left the restaurant when she discovered the body.”
“In talking to Mr. Villa, we found out that they were very busy that night. They had probably 40 or 42 people in the restaurant during that period of time. We tried to pinpoint the exact time this might have happened and in talking to Mr. Villa we found out that between 7:20 p.m. and 7:45 p.m. was when they were really busy. During that period of time, there was a female customer who complained that she couldn’t get in the ladies rest room for about 20 minutes because the door was locked. Eventually, whoever was in there left, and she (female customer) went in to use the rest room and saw blood spots on the floor, on the toilet, and in various places. Mr. Villa sent a waitress, Karla Leon in to clean the rest room. She went in and cleaned it up with bleach.”
“They closed the restaurant around 9:20 p.m. and Mr Villa told Karla to go back into the rest rooms to clean them again. When she went in to the women’s rest room to clean it up, she noticed that the trash can was a lot heavier than normal. She reached into the trash can, which had a flip top lid on it, looked in and saw a baby’s foot sticking up through the towels in the trash bag. She told the manager and they immediately called 911.”
Agents Billy Miller and Dan Friel of the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation were notified and joined the Smithville Police Department in the investigation later that night, and after interviewing employees, decided they needed to talk to Sosa.
After discovering where she lives, Sheriff Patrick Ray went to the address on Talley Road and picked her up around 4:00 a.m. Saturday. She was brought to the Smithville Police Department, where she was interviewed by the TBI agents.
During the questioning of Sosa through an interpreter, agents determined she was a likely suspect in the case and took her to DeKalb Community Hospital for an examination. The emergency room doctor found that she had recently given birth and suggested that she undergo emergency surgery, because she had suffered some potentially life threatening complications during the delivery.
Sosa was then transported to the Cookeville Hospital early Saturday morning. She came through the surgery fine and is expected to be released Monday, after which she will be taken into custody and charged in the case.
A guard is posted at the hospital around the clock to make sure she dosen’t leave before she is released.
Chief Jennings says the baby was sent to Nashville for an autopsy. The infant, a male, fully developed child, weighed 5 pounds, 14 ounces, and was 19 inches long. He says it appears the mother carried the child about eight months.
The exact time of death hasn’t been determined, but Chief Jennings says it is believed that the infant was still alive when he was found. ” I have a statement from one of the EMT personnel, who stated that when he was getting the child out of the trash can and preparing to transport him to the hospital, he believed he could see the baby’s chest rising and falling slightly and believes the child was breathing. However, sometime either during the transport or after the child got to the emergency room, he was pronounced dead. Judging from the condition of the body, there were no marks on the child. He appeared to be perfectly normal. There was no evidence of trauma. The only thing that we discovered was that the umbilical cord was not cut, it was pulled apart.”

An Hispanic man was airlifted to Vanderbilt Hospital in Nashville early Sunday morning after being stabbed numerous times.
The man, believed to be in his early 20’s, was found in the driveway of a barracks where migrant workers reside at Pirtle’s Nursery on Short Mountain Road.
According to Sheriff Patrick Ray, someone at the barracks heard the man screaming in pain, discovered him lying in the driveway, and called 911 around 2:15 a.m.
Sheriff Ray says since no one apparently witnessed the attack, authorities are uncertain if the stabbing occurred where the man was found, or if it took place somewhere else and he had come to this location to get help.
He says the man suffered numerous stab wounds to his chest, back, and head area. He was transported by DeKalb EMS to DeKalb Community Hospital and then flown by Life Flight to Vanderbilt Hospital in Nashville. He is listed in very critical condition.
Sheriff Ray says authorities believe they know the identity of the victim, but won’t release his name until they can confirm it.
No arrests have been made in the case.

Incumbent Assessor of Property Timothy (Fud) Banks has qualified to seek re-election. Banks will be a candidate for the nomination in the February 5th DeKalb County Democratic Primary.
He will face opposition from Seventh district county commissioner and Smithville alderman Willie Thomas, who has also qualified to run for Assessor of Property.
Meanwhile, three people have qualified to run for constable in the primary.
Thomas was elected to the county commission from the 7th district in August 2006, and was elected alderman in the Smithville Municipal Election in June of this year.
Banks was first elected Assessor of Property in 1996 and will be seeking his fourth term.
Meanwhile, Mary Thomason has qualified to run for constable in the seventh district, Cantrell Jones will be a candidate for constable in the sixth district, and Incumbent Mark Milam will seek re-election as constable in the fifth district.
DeKalb County Democrats will nominate candidates for the offices of Assessor of Property and Constable in each of the county’s seven districts on Tuesday, February 5th.
DeKalb County Administrator of Elections Lisa Peterson says Democratic and Independent candidates for Assessor of Property and Constable may qualify with the Election Commission now through the deadline of noon December 13th.
Democrats will qualify for the February 5th Primary while Independents will qualify for the August 7th, 2008 DeKalb County General Election.
DeKalb County Republicans select their nominees for the DeKalb County General Election by convention, rather than a primary, but GOP candidates for Assessor of Property and Constable must also be qualified to run for the August Election by noon December 13th.
The DeKalb County Republican Party is scheduled to hold a meeting Saturday, November 3rd at 10:00 a.m. at the courthouse to give potential local GOP candidates an opportunity to publicly announce their intentions.

Approximately 400 people again enjoyed chili Friday at Habitat for Humanity’s Fourth Annual Chili Cook-off, which was held on the Courthouse Lawn. “The Chuck Wagon Chili Crew” from the DeKalb County Board of Education took the top honors for Best Chili, with The Inn at Evins Mill following in second place. In the decorating contest, “Great Bowls of Fire” from Bradley Printing successfully defended their title by winning the “Best Decorated” booth award.
According to Tecia Puckett Pryor, Habitat board vice president, the event raised a total of $3,800.00, which will be used toward the building of the Gibbs Family Habitat home, which is currently under construction on Adams Street in Smithville. “We were really pleased with the turnout and participation at this year’s cook-off,” said Pryor. “We especially appreciate all the chili teams for their hard work and dedication to this event and to all those who made the delicious baked goods. The bake sale alone raised $857.50 and is vital to the success of this event.” Pryor added, “We’re already looking forward to next year.”
Ten teams participated in the chili cook-off, including “Great Bowls of Fire” from Bradley Printing, “Curves Divas” from Curves of Smithville, “Hot Checks Chili” from DeKalb Community Bank, “Chuck Wagon Chili Crew” from the DeKalb County Board of Education, “The Courthouse Crew” from the DeKalb County Courthouse, “Edgar Evins Chili Peppers” from Edgar Evins State Park, The Inn at Evins Mill, “Fire in the Hole” from the Rick and Joanna Webb family, “The Risk Takers” from Jackie Smith State Farm Insurance, and “Sundance Kids” from Sundance Restaurant. The Middle Tennessee Times again had a “Times Tummy Table,” and sold items for post-chili relief, which donations were matched by The Times.
Habitat for Humanity of DeKalb County is a locally run affiliate of Habitat for Humanity International, a nonprofit, ecumenical Christian housing organization. Habitat for Humanity builds and renovates houses in partnership with volunteers and families in need, regardless of their ethnic or religious background. The houses then are sold to those in need at no profit and with no interest charged. To contact Habitat for Humanity of DeKalb County, please call 215-8181.