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'I'll Never Get Over It,' Man Says Of Finding Dead Baby In Trash Bin

News Channel 8 photo

Ken Krisp worked as a maintenance man at the Lakeland apartment complex and learned someone had been illegally using the complex's outdoor trash container.

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By MIKE WELLS | The Tampa Tribune

Published: May 23, 2008

Ken Krisp swore to the lifeless baby girl he found in a trash bag two years ago that even though someone had discarded her, he would never forget her.

The father of three said he couldn't fathom how anyone, especially a mother, could leave a helpless infant to die.

"I made a promise to that little girl that I wouldn't give up until they found her" mother, Krisp said.

His two-year vigil of praying for justice ended Thursday when Polk County authorities arrested Kami Sargent, 41, of Riverview.

Detectives charged Sargent with aggravated manslaughter and said her DNA matches that of the placenta found with the baby Krisp found in an apartment complex's trash bin on Lewellyn Road on May 9, 2006.

Later Thursday, Krisp placed a stuffed plush bunny on the infant's grave. He found the toy on the same day he found her, he said.

The grave's heart-shaped marker bears the name May Angel.

Krisp worked as a maintenance man at the Lakeland apartment complex and learned someone had been illegally using the complex's outdoor trash container.

"I went over it and over and over in my mind," he said. "Why was I so gentle with that bag?"

He pulled the plastic bag out, placed it on top of the container and opened it.

"When the baby's head fell in my hands, I couldn't believe what I was seeing," Krisp said.

The image haunts him.

"I wake up at night screaming," Krisp said. "No, I'll never get over it. I've tried."

The break in the case came in November when Sargent was placed on probation in Polk County for driving without a license on Nov. 11. At that time, police took a DNA swab from her and entered the information in a DNA database.

On Tuesday, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement informed the Polk County Sheriff's Office that Sargent's DNA matched that of the placenta found with the baby. Sargent was questioned by detectives Thursday and arrested.

Polk County detectives say Sargent told them she already had adult children and hid her pregnancy because she didn't want another baby. She told them she gave birth and placed the child in the trash bin while it was alive.

"She did not want her family to know she was pregnant," sheriff's spokeswoman Carrie Rodgers said.

Investigators said Sargent walked away from her child. Krisp found that he could not.

"My children even ask me why do I go out there," he said of the grave. "I said, 'I don't know. I have to. I have to. I just have to.' "

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