The father of the newborn stuffed in a trash bag by its mother who concealed her pregnancy has spoken out for the first time at his baby girl’s funeral Saturday.
Edwin Taylor said the daughter he named Kimberly would have been ‘a loving little baby girl but nobody got a chance to meet her’ as his family gathered in Lexington County, South Carolina to mourn the loss of the infant they never even knew.
His ex girlfriend Brennan Geller, 21, is charged with murder by child abuse after she concealed her pregnancy, gave birth to the infant inside her car and then allegedly placed the baby in a trash bag and left her on the floor of the vehicle earlier this month.
It was not until the next day, that Brennan, a part-time gym employee, was taken to the emergency room for blood loss, raising concerns by doctors which led investigators to recover the infant’s lifeless body in her car.
Edwin Taylor said he never knew his girlfriend of a year and a half was expecting
The funeral was held Saturday for the baby who no one ever got to meet after her mother stuffed the infant in a trash bag immediately after birth
‘I want everyone to remember Kimberly,’ Edwin told WISTV. ‘[She]was taken away from all of us but just know she’s up in heaven, in God’s hands, the best hands possible just looking over all of us.’
Brennan Geller, 21, is facing 20 years jail for homicide by child neglect in the infant’s death earlier this month
The parents had been dating for about a year and a half, but Brennan told neither Edwin nor her family and friends that she was pregnant.
He said Brennan showed no physical signs she was expecting, except a few weeks before she gave birth when the couple went to the beach with Edwin’s family.
Edwin’s mother Kathy Taylor said she had asked Brennan ‘many times’ if she was pregnant but she denied it.
‘There’s really no words for it, it was uncalled for,’ Kathy told WISTV. ‘It’s a void we will have for the rest of our lives.’
The family says they still do not understand why Brennan would get rid of the child.
Edwin’s sister, Katie Taylor-Fonte said she believes it was her intention to dispose of the child the entire pregnancy.
‘All the support in the world wasn’t going to change this, I think she knew what she was going to do and she worked to achieve that goal,’ she said.
Katie added: ‘Whether she wanted to parent or not parent, whatever her choice would have been we would have supported her through that and make the situation not end like that.’
Brennan allegedly gave birth in her car then put the baby in a trash bag and drove home with it on the floor where it died
Dozens of family and friends mourned the infant Edwin named Kimberly who they never had the chance to meet
Brennan was released from jail on $50,000 bond and awaiting trial.
According to WISTV, dozen of family members and friends attended the burial in West Columbia.
But they say they are grieving both Kimberly and Edwin who was not given a fair chance at being a father.
‘In a lot of ways I feel like he’s being punished more than she’s been punished,’ his sister said.
‘I want people to know these entire nine months were robbed from him, he didn’t get to support her, he didn’t get to share in that excitement, he didn’t get to give input, he found out when the public found out,’ Katie added.
Brennan faces more than 20 years jail if convicted.
Kimberly was laid to rest Saturday in Lexington County, South Carolina
Edwin’s mother (left) and sister (right) believe Brennan planned to dispose of the baby throughout the entire pregnancy
Brennan told doctors nothing about the baby when she arrived at the hospital and authorities only discovered what happened when officers found the body in her car.
Brennan was released from jail on $50,000 bail and awaits trial
‘The medical team caring for Brennan told investigators she never told them the baby was in her car,’ Lexington County Sheriff Jay Koon said.
A 2015 graduate of River Bluff High School, she worked at MUV Fitness and as a server at Travinia Italian Kitchen & Wine Bar, both in in Lexington, according to Facebook.
Brennan was largely raised by her mother Julie after her father Mike died in 2008.
Several of her friends expressed their shock online at the news she was pregnant, let alone an alleged murderer.
‘And to think i was friends with her… I didn’t even know she was pregnant,’ one said.
‘I didn’t even know she was like this or even pregnant. Jesus, I can’t believe this. I’m, like, shook (sic) to the core,’ another said.
‘Known her since grade school and never thought in a million years she would do this, I feel so horrible for the baby and the dad. I wonder if he even knows…’
South Carolina has ‘safe haven’ laws that allow mothers to legally abandon babies at fire stations, churches, and hospitals.