Background: A wooded area in Washington, Conn., where Sadie Fleming”s baby son Hudson was found dead (Google Maps). Inset: Sadie Fleming (Connecticut State Police).
A Connecticut mother, who sparked a Silver Alert after vanishing with her newborn, is now facing charges for the infant’s murder.
Sadie Fleming, 27, has been accused of murdering her 1-month-old son, Hudson Fleming, by drowning him in June, according to Connecticut State Police. An arrest warrant, as seen by Law&Crime, reveals that the night before their disappearance, Fleming experienced alarming symptoms, including a belief that she was being pursued by others.
A woman who lived with Fleming and her baby reported seeing them last around midnight on June 8 when they went to bed. By the following morning, both were missing.
The woman, whose identity and connection to Fleming have been withheld in the warrant, informed authorities about Fleming’s history of mental health issues and noted that she had just begun a new medication the day prior to their disappearance. This information led to the issuance of a Silver Alert for both Fleming and her son. Soon thereafter, a person resembling Fleming was sighted.
An anonymous caller informed 911 that her daughter spotted someone resembling Fleming walking alone in Washington, a rural area approximately 35 miles northwest of New Haven. State troopers arrived at the location to find Fleming on Blackville Road, reportedly “soaking wet” and in a disturbed mental state. When asked about her baby, she allegedly replied, “What baby?”
Officers who encountered Fleming described her as “extremely paranoid and panicked,” with no recollection of her own name or whereabouts. Although she eventually calmed down, she became “unresponsive” and was subsequently hospitalized.
At the same time, a search was happening nearby for Hudson, whose lifeless body was found in a “small body of water.” Found near Hudson’s body was an infant carrier and a vape pen, both of which were identified as belonging to Fleming. An autopsy concluded that his cause of death was drowning.
When Fleming was at the hospital, the woman who reported her missing spoke with detectives and detailed Fleming’s history of mental health issues, which dated back to 2019. The woman told detectives that on the night of June 7, Fleming took her “nighttime meds,” including a new medication, at around 8:30 p.m. and got Hudson ready for bed between 11:30 p.m. and midnight.
According to police, Fleming told the woman while she was in the hospital that in the early hours of June 8, she purportedly hid in a closet with Hudson because she thought “people were after her.” Fleming also described running through “the woods, the river, and a field” and cutting her hands on barbed wire. She also said of Hudson, “He’s gone, I’ve lost him.”
When police questioned Fleming, she told them a similar story, adding that the people who were purportedly after her were also “trying to kill her.” She told police that days earlier, she began having thoughts that “Illuminati people” were trying to “get” her.
Police described Fleming’s recent medical history since Hudson’s birth in late April, including a list of medications for a medical condition that was redacted from the document. Notes about Fleming’s medical history included “concerns with the [Department of Children and Families] investigation” and “significant concern with Hudson’s father.”
On June 2, Fleming requested a telehealth appointment after reporting that she was “having some paranoia again, feeling manic, irritable.” Her most recent appointment was on June 6, two days before she and Hudson were reported missing. According to the warrant, Fleming had someone else speak to the clinician on her behalf because she “did not feel like talking.” She agreed to an in-person appointment on June 9.
Fleming obtained an attorney, who told police in July that she would not speak to police. After the autopsy on Hudson determined his manner of death to be homicide, police obtained a warrant for Fleming’s arrest.
Fleming was taken into custody by police on Wednesday and appeared in court the same day, charged with murder and risk of injury to a child. Her bond was set at $5 million, and her next court date was scheduled for Nov. 7.
