PERRY, Iowa. Stephanie Ubaldo, a 20 year old Perry resident, has been charged with first degree murder after authorities say her newborn daughter was found dead at Acorns and Oaks Child Care on September 15, 2026. Police say Ubaldo worked at the facility. The allegations against her have not been proven in court.
She is presumed innocent unless a jury or judge finds her guilty. According to Perry police and a criminal complaint reviewed in local reporting, the case began as a medical emergency, not as a report of a missing or injured child enrolled at the center. Shortly before 5 p.m. on Tuesday, Dallas County Emergency Medical Services was sent to Acorns and Oaks Child Care, located on the Perry Lutheran Homes Eden Acres campus in the 1300 block of 28th Street.
Crews were called for a woman with significant vaginal bleeding. Emergency personnel evaluated the woman, later identified as Ubaldo, and transported her to a hospital at about 5:33 p.m. Reporting based on court records says she was treated at a West Des Moines hospital. Police were contacted a short time later.
Shortly before 6:30 p.m., officers were told that an infant might be inside a trash container at the child care center. Perry police responded and found a deceased baby girl inside a trash bag. Court records cited by local news outlets describe a clear trash bag in the facility’s trash wagon containing a baby girl with the umbilical cord still attached. Officers said the infant showed signs of injury.
Authorities have been explicit on one point that has circulated in public discussion: the newborn was not a child enrolled at Acorns and Oaks Child Care and was not under the center’s care. Police identified Ubaldo as the baby’s mother. The criminal complaint, as described in reporting from court filings and police statements, alleges that Ubaldo knew she was pregnant for months and did not tell others.
Investigators say she told hospital staff that she had given birth in a bathroom at the daycare and placed the baby in bathroom garbage. In a later interview with detectives, according to the complaint, she said that after the birth she heard the baby crying, put the infant on the floor, and intentionally caused injuries to the baby’s face in an effort to stop the crying. The complaint further alleges that she then placed the infant in a trash bag.
Investigators say she intended to return to work but was unable to do so because of bleeding, which led staff to summon medical help. Those statements are accusations contained in charging documents and investigator accounts. They have not been tested at trial. Ubaldo has not been convicted of any crime in this case.
Reporting that cites court documents and the Iowa State Medical Examiner’s Office says an autopsy estimated the baby’s gestation at about 32 to 36 weeks. The same reporting says the infant had numerous injuries and abrasions visible on her body and that the manner of death was ruled a homicide. Local court records summarized by The Perry News also said the infant showed evidence of head injuries.
Officials have not publicly released a complete autopsy report in the coverage reviewed for this article, and additional forensic findings may still be pending as the investigation continues. Ubaldo was arrested Thursday, September 17, two days after the infant was found. Perry Police Chief Jim Archer said she is accused of taking the life of her own child. He said the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation assisted Perry police.
Officers said she was taken into custody without incident and booked into the Dallas County Jail. The Dallas County Attorney’s Office is expected to prosecute the first degree murder charge. As of the most recent available reporting on September 18, Ubaldo was being held without bond, and it was not immediately clear when she was scheduled to appear in court or whether she had entered a plea or retained counsel. Police said the investigation remains open.
Officials have asked anyone with relevant information to contact the Perry Police Department. In public statements after the arrest, authorities also described Iowa’s Safe Haven law, formally known as the Newborn Safe Haven Act. The law allows a parent, or another person with a parent’s authorization, to surrender an infant up to 90 days old at designated locations without being prosecuted for abandonment. Those locations include hospitals, certain health care facilities, staffed fire stations, approved adoption service providers, and approved newborn safety devices.
A parent may also contact 911 and relinquish physical custody of an infant up to 90 days old to a first responder. State health officials say identifying information provided at surrender is kept confidential, and the law is intended to give parents in crisis a legal way to place an infant in protective care. Mention of the statute is a statement of existing Iowa law.
It does not establish what Ubaldo knew, what she intended, or whether she is guilty of the charge filed against her. First degree murder is among the most serious charges under Iowa law. A charge is only an accusation. The state must prove each element beyond a reasonable doubt.
Ubaldo remains presumed innocent as the case moves through the Dallas County courts. The death of the infant has drawn attention in Perry and across Iowa because it occurred inside a workplace devoted to young children. Police have stressed that the baby was Ubaldo’s child and was not a client of the center.
For families who use Acorns and Oaks Child Care, that distinction is central to understanding what investigators say happened on September 15: a medical call involving an employee, followed by the discovery of a newborn who, authorities allege, had been born at the facility that same day and then concealed in the trash. Further details are expected as prosecutors file additional documents and as Ubaldo makes her first court appearances.
Until a court rules on the evidence, the public record consists of a first degree murder charge, a police investigation supported by state agents, medical examiner findings described in court related reporting, and a set of allegations that Ubaldo has the right to contest.
