Solon Teen Pleads "Not Guilty" to Killing her Newborn Daughter

By Mark Geary, Reporter

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By Mark Geary

Story Created: Jul 9, 2007 at 4:05 PM CST

Story Updated: Jul 9, 2007 at 8:09 PM CST

FLORIDA -- "Not guilty." That's what a Solon teenager accused of killing her newborn baby pleaded in a Florida courtroom today.

Prosecutors say 18-year-old Ashley Truitt gave birth to a girl in a Florida hotel room while she was on vacation. They say she then dropped the baby down a seven-story trash chute.

People in Solon prefer to focus on fun activities happening in the area. But, now the city's connection to a serious crime has people talking about the town for a much different reason.

"Everybody just keeps asking questions about if you knew her or not and if you went to school with her," Elizabeth Klahn said.

The murder charge Truitt faces still seems shocking to many people who know the teenager.

"It was a real tragic thing to happen. A lot of people knew her around town and she was a little out there. But, this was pushing the envelope -- even for her," Jonathan Hagemeier said.

"I didn't know her very well, but she didn't seem like the type of person that would go and do something like that," Klahn said.

Solon is a place where people lean on each other for support and stick together through tough times. Truitt's own parents and boyfriend told authorities they didn't even know she was nearly nine-months pregnant.

That's why the whole situation has taken so many people by surprise.

"It's a real sad thing to happen any time...especially in a small town like this -- you'd never think that it would occur," Hagemeier said.

A small town where someone might have been able to help the teenager before all this happened.

Truitt's lawyer, Robert Pasin, told TV9, "Ashley is holding up well. It’s an emotional time for her but her family is being very supportive. She has never acknowledged or admitted doing the crime she has been charged with.”

Truitt's case will go to trial sometime in the next two years.

E-mail Mark Geary at Mark.Geary@kcrg.com

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