Shoplifting Case Dropped Against NYC Teen Found With Dead Baby In Bag At Victoria's Secret

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork/AP) -- A judge has dismissed a shoplifting case against a Brooklyn teenager found with a baby's remains in a shopping bag. But it remains unclear whether she may face charges in the infant's death.

Prosecutors conceded Thursday that time had run out to try the misdemeanor theft case.

Tiona Rodriguez, then 17, was accused of stealing a $45 pair of pants at the Victoria's Secret store at Herald Square in October 2013. Police said a security guard searched the girl's bags and found the dead baby.

The medical examiner's office ruled that the cause of death was asphyxia, and the manner of death was a homicide.

Defense lawyer Earl Ward says the baby was stillborn. The girl told detectives she delivered a day earlier and didn't know what to do with the baby, authorities said.

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