CONWAY, SC (WBTW) – Testimony wrapped up Wednesday in the trial for Shelby Taylor, the Socastee-area woman accused of leaving her newborn baby in a dumpster.

Taylor is on trial for attempted murder. Horry County police say she left her infant in a dumpster near the Island Green community in the 500 block of Fairway Village Drive in April 2015.

Taylor, who was 23 at the time she allegedly tried to kill the infant, turned herself into police April 10, 2015, the day after seeing her photo on the evening news after someone found the baby girl in a bag of trash.

During day three of her trial, the defense called up a local psychologist who had performed an extensive evaluation of Taylor following her arrest and hospitalization. Dr. Robert McCarthy reviewed Taylor’s case, performed multiple standardized tests, interviewed her family and even scanned and mapped her brain.  


He determined she suffered from a transient peripartum psychotic episode when she left her newborn in the dumpster almost three years ago.  Most people are familiar with the term postpartum depression, but McCarthy said Taylor’s episode was much more extreme. 


He describes “transient” as acute, short-lived and not chronic; peripartum as “that time in the month or so before delivery and the several months thereafter.” He, said when pregnant women are affected by psychosis, “They become disoriented, they become illogical, they become irrational and then think and engage in behaviors they ordinarily wouldn’t do.”


McCarthy said like disposing of an infant. He noted Taylor’s fear of spousal abandonment, financial strain and prior abuse as factors that played into her episode. 


Defense attorney Dean Mureddu questioned McCarthy, “Was there evidence there that she was overwhelmed by this ultimate responsibility?” McCarthy answered yes.


During cross examination the prosecution argued McCarthy left out an important part of validating Taylor’s testimony.  “I just want to know if you picked up the phone and called the guy who had beaten her for the past two years. You talk to him?” Asked Horry County Deputy Solicitor Scott Hixson. McCarthy replied, “No, I did not.”

 
Hixson also had a problem with the term “transient,” saying to McCarthy, “If you’re psychotic, then you’re there. You get arrested and it goes away?”

McCarthy replied, “No you come in and out of it.”

After more than an hour of testimony the defense rested its case. The judge is now considering assault and battery to the first degree in addition to an attempted murder charge. The defense asked for lesser included offenses on all of the charges. 

Closing arguments will begin at 9:30 Thursday morning.