Man Tried To Flush Newborn After Mom Gave Birth In Toilet: Will County Sheriff

WARNING: Some readers may find the details in this story provided by police to be disturbing.

WILMINGTON, IL — Police say a Manhattan man used a plunger to try to flush a newborn after the mother gave birth in a toilet, more than a year before the baby girl was found buried in a yard in Wilmington.

The man and woman have been charged after the body of an infant girl was found buried in a beer box in a shallow grave in a Wilmington yard Friday, according to jail records.

Nicole Pokrzywa, 36, of Wilmington, was booked Saturday on a charge of desecration of a corpse. Also facing the same charge is William Cosmen, 38, of the 400 block of North Street in Manhattan. Cosmen’s age was previously incorrectly listed as 36.

Pokrzywa is the infant's mother; Cosmen's relation to the infant was not released by police.

The Will County Sheriff's Office said detectives received information on Dec. 4 that an infant had been buried on the property in the 1900 block of Roberts Street, which jail records list as Pokrzywa's address.

According to sheriff's officials, detectives learned that in October 2024, a 36-year-old woman had given birth to a child, buried it on the property, and marked the site with a large rock on top of the burial site.

Detectives learned that the mother was believed to be six to eight months pregnant at the time of the birth, and believe the baby weighed 5 to 7 pounds at birth.

Detectives were able to secure a search warrant for the residential property after receiving a tip about the infant's burial on Thursday, the sheriff's office said.

The next morning, deputies took several suspects into custody before securing the site. Crime Scene Investigators then began digging, and found the baby wrapped in a plastic bag and cloth and buried inside an Old Style beer box, three feet into the ground, the sheriff's office said. However, they say that during an interview, Pokrzywa and Cosmen said they dug a hole that was three feet wide and four feet deep.

Both Pokrzywa and Cosmen made incriminating statements pertaining to concealing the infant's death, the sheriff's office said. Both reportedly indicated that Pokrzywa gave birth to the infant at Cosmen's home in Manhattan.

According to the sheriff's office, the duo said the infant was born in a toilet, and Cosmen attempted to dispose of it by forcing it down the toilet drain with a plunger.

The two realized that the infant’s body would not fit down the drain, the sheriff's office said, and left the body in the toilet overnight. They then took the infant to the Wilmington property, where they buried it in a shallow grave, according to the sheriff's office.

On Dec. 6, an autopsy was conducted by a forensic pathologist at the Will County Coroner’s Office. The pathologist concluded that the baby girl was at 22 to 27 weeks' gestation. Additional testing of biological materials removed from the female infant is needed due to the level of decomposition, according to the sheriff's office.

The Will County Sheriff’s Office said it will continue to work with members of the Will County State's Attorney's Office regarding additional charges once further testing of the remains is completed.

Saturday afternoon, Pokrzywa and Cosmen were transported to the Will County Adult Detention Facility regarding the charges, and will be given a notice to appear for an upcoming court date on this non-detainable offense.