WESTFIELD—A Westfield woman who was arrested and arraigned previously on charges related to the alleged disposal of a full-term fetus last year once again had her case continued yesterday.
Shanna Sharples, 38, of Westfield, was due in court Jan. 3, for a pretrial conference at Westfield District Court on Elm Street. However, the case was continued and is now scheduled for Feb. 15.
This is the second continuance for the pretrial conference, with the first occurring on Nov. 4, 2017, that was continued until Jan. 3. According to court records and a court official, “counsel needs time to review discovery” pertaining to the case.
Sharples was arrested on Oct. 3 on charges of improper disposal of a body, three counts of obstruction of justice and one charge of child endangerment stemming from an alleged disposal of a full-term fetus in May 2017. She was arraigned on the charges Oct. 4, 2017 at Westfield District Court.
Since then, Sharples had $10,000 bail posted on Oct. 11. She also had pretrial conditions set, with GPS monitoring placed, according to a Nov. 4, 2017 article in The Westfield News.
Previously, police reported that Sharples had reportedly checked in to Baystate Noble Hospital on May 4 last year. This was due to a possible miscarriage, according to the statement of facts given by police, and was reported in The Westfield News on Oct. 4, 2017.
According to Hampden County Assistant District Attorney Jane Mulqueen in Westfield District Court during Sharples’s arraignment in May last year in the Oct. 4, 2017 article, it was reported that Sharples had allegedly reported to the hospital with a placenta and umbilical cord in a plastic bag.
Mulqueen said during the arraignment that, according to doctors, a “full-term or near full-term fetus would have been attached” to what was in the bag.
Later, police searched both Sharple’s apartment, as well as the Twiss Street Transfer Station, in relation to the incident.
During that search, the transfer station was closed for several days. However, no body was reported found from the searches. Police did report however, that bloody clothing was reportedly found in trash, which was believed to have been used to clean a bathroom.
