Mother admits murdering baby after giving birth at work

She sealed the baby in a plastic bag under her desk drawer after giving birth in the office toilet

(Redford Township Police)

A woman has admitted to killing her newborn son, who was found in a sealed plastic bag in her desk drawer.

Kimberly Pappas, 26, pleaded guilty to second degree murder following the infant's death in March.

She is alleged to have given birth to the baby in a toilet, cutting the umbilical cord with cuticle scissors, according to the Detroit Free Press.

The court heard she then put the baby in a bag and returned to her desk.

Employees later called the police when they found blood in the bathroom.

The baby was still warm when firefighters found him around 30 minutes later, Detective Sergeant Kevin Crittenden is reported to have said.

At the time, Pappas told them it was a miscarriage, but the autopsy showed the baby had died by suffocation and ruled the death a homicide.

"On the day of the incident, she had initially told firefighters she wasn't feeling well; they could tell something was wrong with her and escorted her away from coworkers," Detroit Free Press reports Detective Sergeant Crittenden saying.

"They spoke to her and indicated she really needed to be seen by the doctor. She told the lieutenant that she miscarried and that the child was in the desk drawer."

Pappas agreed to a sentence of 9 to 20 years in prison on a guilty plea entered before Wayne County Circuit Court Judge Bruce Morrow on Wednesday, The Mirror reports.

She is scheduled to be sentenced on 26 October, charged with felony murder, premeditated murder and first-degree child abuse.