LANSING (WWJ) - A Lansing woman who disappeared last week along with her newborn daughter, who was later found dead, is now in police custody.
Police said Thursday morning Ashley Rae Shade was arrested without incident in North Lansing on multiple outstanding previous criminal charges from several jurisdictions, and lodged in the Lansing Police Detention facility.
She was arraigned in 54-A District Court Thursday afternoon, according to police, on a charge of failure to appear in court on a previous charge – Assault and Battery in a 2016 case.
Police had been looking for Shade, 35, since March 18. That day, officers were called to an apartment complex on a complaint of an unresponsive infant but when they arrived, Shade and the 6-day-old baby were gone and two girls under the age of 10 were left alone unsupervised.
The baby's father arrived and told police the child had been born in the bathroom, reportedly to avoid CPS.
According to a report in The Lansing State Journal, Shade had called the father earlier in the day and told him the baby was not breathing. When he came home, Shade was crying -- but the father says he "thought the baby looked fine, like she was sleeping." The man did not contact any emergency services to report that the baby was not breathing, according to the report.
The afternoon after Shade went missing, police found her 2002 Toyota Camry parked in the 100 block of E. Kilborn St. in Lansing. Inside the car was the baby's lifeless body. The child reportedly had no signs of injury or trauma, and police are still waiting for test results to determine a cause of death.
Shade has six other children. The state has revoked her parental rights to all of them, according to the report, which says four of Shade's six other children tested positive for drugs when they were born. Shade reportedly tested positive for marijuana and cocaine during her pregnancies.
CPS had determined there was an "unreasonable risk of harm" if the children were left in the care of their mother. So for her sixth child, she stayed home to have the baby in order to avoid CPS, according to the report. Records reportedly show that Shade didn't arrive at the hospital until 13 hours after that birth and the baby tested positive for drugs and was showing symptoms of withdrawals.
The report says Shade missed 28 visits with the baby, didn't sign the birth certificate, and missed 91 days of parenting time with her sixth child. The baby was put up for adoption and the process was finalized last fall, according to the report.
Lansing police said Shad has outstanding warrants Ingham County, Eaton County and Meridian; a;though further details were not immediately released.
She remains held on an $11,000 cash/surety bond awaiting her next court appearance set for April 9.
