An Idaho teen is behind bars after a dead baby was found in a hospital drop-off box meant for the anonymous surrender of newborns. 

Angel Newberry, 18, was arrested in Twin Falls more than a month after medical officials found the dead baby girl wrapped in a blanket with her placenta still attached in the Safe Haven Baby Box at the Grove Creek Medical Center in Blackfoot, authorities announced Friday. 

“The Safe Haven Baby Box is intended to safely and anonymously allow custodial parents to surrender a newborn under 30 days old without legal repercussions, provided the child is unharmed,” the Blackfoot Police Department said in a social media post. 

“Unfortunately, the placement of a harmed or deceased infant is not protected under the system of Idaho law.”

Hospital staff immediately responded to an alarm on Oct. 13 indicating a baby had been placed in the box — making the disturbing discovery that the newborn had been dead long before she was abandoned, according to Safe Haven Baby Boxes.

Idaho law only allows for the surrender of an infant who is unharmed.

“We are heartbroken,” Safe Haven Baby Box founder Monica Kelsey said last month.

“Let this be clear: this is an illegal, deadly abandonment.”

The accused teen was charged with failing to report a death to law enforcement officials and the coroner, police said.

Additional charges could be filed as the investigation into the circumstances surrounding the baby’s death is ongoing.

She is being held at Bingham County Jail.

Officials with the Idaho State Controller’s Office told a legislative committee Friday that it may take two or three years for the new Luma business and IT system to be fully optimized.

On Friday, officials with the Idaho Office of Performance Evaluation presented their new evaluation report on the Luma business, finance, HR and IT system to the Idaho Legislature’s Joint Legislative Oversight Committee. 

“The key takeaway is clear; transitioning to Luma was the right decision,” Idaho State Controller Brandon Woolf told the committee. “In visiting with other states, projects of this magnitude require two to three years to fully optimize, and we are firmly on the right path to success.”

Luma, which is based on software purchased from Infor, is designed to improve security and efficiency for state agencies by replacing legacy systems from the 1990s that had outlived their useful life and were vulnerable to security threats. But the $117 million Luma system, launched in July 2023, experienced a rocky rollout that included duplicated payments, payroll challenges, late payments, reporting and reconciliation challenges and the inability to independently verify cash balances, according to the evaluation and a series of previous audits of Luma.

In the latest Luma challenge, state budget officials said Tuesday that the state was not able to identify $14.5 million in state revenues by the deadline to use that money to reduce Idaho property taxes this year. 

After Friday’s presentation, Woolf issued a response and fielded questions from legislators. Luma is housed in the Idaho State Controller’s Office, which was also involved in purchasing Luma. 

Woolf told legislators his office takes accountability for the challenges with Luma, and believes sticking with Luma and optimizing it to see its full potential is the best option for the state moving forward.

Woolf said the Idaho State Controller’s Office is developing a “people-first” strategy working to repair relationships with state employees and rebuild trust. As part of that effort, the office is developing a sustainable training strategy and focusing on communication.

“As we move forward, we are guided by a clear vision – to restore trust, improve transparency and ensure that Luma delivers the value it was designed to provide,” Woolf said. “This is a collective effort, one that depends on ongoing collaboration and respect with all involved.”

Idaho Office of Performance Evaluation Director Ryan Langrill told legislators the best path forward for the state is improving Luma.

“We believe that moving forward with Luma, rather than migrating back to the legacy system or doing a whole new procurement for a new system, is the most realistic option,” Langrill said.

In the Idaho Office of Performance Evaluation report on Luma, evaluators suggest legislators consider changes to Idaho’s purchasing process and consider changes to the governance and accountability of Luma. In the report, Langrill’s team suggested the purchasing process the state used to get Luma may have limited choices available to the state.

Moving forward, Woolf said his top priority is improving the reporting processes in Luma. But Woolf stressed he believes in Luma and that it will bring security benefits to the state and standardize data entry across different agencies and divisions. 

“The narrative that Luma does not work is counterproductive and not accurate,” Woolf said. “Luma is functional but it’s not perfect – it processes transactions, handles payments and ensures everyone gets paid.”

BLACKFOOT, Idaho (AP) — An Idaho teenager has been arrested in connection with the body of an infant found last month at a hospital in a box meant for people to anonymously give up a newborn, police said Friday.

The Blackfoot Police Department said in a social media post that an 18-year-old from Twin Falls, about 130 miles (210 kilometers) southeast of Boise, had been arrested there and booked into the Bingham County Jail.

She was arrested on a felony arrest warrant for failing to report a death to law enforcement officials and the coroner, police said.

Police in Blackfoot responded to a report Oct. 13 of a deceased baby left at Grove Creek Medical Center. Safe Haven Baby Boxes founder Monica Kelsey has said hospital staff responded immediately to an alarm indicating a baby was in the box and realized that the infant had died before being placed inside.

Idaho law only allows for the surrender of an infant who is unharmed.

“The Safe Haven Baby Box is intended to safely and anonymously allow custodial parents to surrender a newborn under 30 days old without legal repercussions, provided the child is unharmed,” police said in the social media post. “Unfortunately, the placement of a harmed or deceased infant is not protected under this system or Idaho law.”

The baby had been wrapped in a blanket, and the placenta was still attached, Kelsey said previously.

Police said they weren’t releasing further information in part because more charges could be filed.