TAMPA, Fla. – A former University of Tampa student has been charged with aggravated involuntary manslaughter of a child and child neglect resulting in serious bodily injury after a newborn’s body was found in a trash can in April.

Brianna Moore, 19, was arrested in Mississippi and faces extradition to Hillsborough County to face the charges.

The case began April 27 when police said they received a call from campus security about a 19-year-old girl, believed to be Moore, who may have suffered a miscarriage after Students heard a baby crying in the dormitory.

“She lived in a quad, four girls lived in the bedrooms with a shared common room and bathroom. They heard the baby crying and called police later that day when they discovered blood on the bathroom floor of their shared bathroom,” she told Hillsborough County Prosecutor Suzy Lopez.

Prosecutors said an ambulance was sent to check on Moore, but she denied being pregnant and told an officer the blood in the bathroom was from her period.

Police said they received another call the next day after campus security found the baby in a bag.

“University of Tampa campus security arrived and discovered what appeared to be a full-grown newborn wrapped in a towel and thrown into a trash can,” Lopez said.

Prosecutor Suzy Lopez said an autopsy showed the newborn had “multiple broken ribs along the spine and bleeding in the lungs.” The coroner said the cause of death was “asphyxia due to compression of the upper body, with the manner of death being homicide.”

Lopez said the baby’s death was “preventable” and that “if this woman had alerted authorities that she needed help, this little girl could still be alive today.”

“There is a fire station across from the University of Tampa. Tampa General Hospital is only two to three minutes away by car. This little girl’s death was completely preventable,” Lopez said.

Moore faces four charges including:

• Aggravated manslaughter of a child
• Child neglect resulting in great bodily harm
• Unlawful storage, preservation or transport of human remains
• Failure to report the death to the coroner or law enforcement

Florida has a safe haven law that “allows parents to anonymously surrender an unharmed newborn child seven days old or younger to any fire station, rescue station, or hospital staffed by full-time emergency medical technicians, paramedics, or firefighters. “There will be no questions asked and no charges filed when a newborn is surrendered under the Safe Haven Act unless the child shows signs of abuse or neglect.”

If you are an expectant mother and need support, you can turn to the following resources:

• Tampa Bay Crisis Center: Dial 211
• Florida Department of Health, Division of Maternal and Child Health: 850-245-4047
• The National Safe Haven Alliance Hotline: 888-510-2229