Santa Rosa County woman admitted killing baby

A Santa Rosa County woman has been charged with murder following the death of her newborn baby.

Michelle Marie Vasquez, 34, of Midway, was found in a wooded area and reportedly took sheriff's deputies to her dead baby's body the same day her mother, the baby's grandmother, had reported her missing.

In a report released by the Santa Rosa County Sheriff's Office on Monday, Vasquez had been living with her parents when she allegedly left the home, claiming "she felt that she did not belong there."  Vasquez told deputy Scott Zohn that she wanted to live on the streets.

Vasquez evidently left the home on April 15 with her then one-week old infant, Madison Marie Florez, and fled to the woods across the street from her mother's Congress street home in Gulf Breeze.

Vasquez's mother reported her missing the following day.  That afternoon, Vasquez's stepfather, the baby's grandfather, flagged down deputies, claiming to have found Vasquez and her deceased baby in the woods.

Zonh's report stated that Vasquez admitted holding the baby "really tight to comfort her."  She also repeatedly stated "I killed my baby," and "I am a murderer," while Zohn was questioning her.

When Zohn asked Vasquez if she knew what would happen if she held a baby too tight, she said "die."

Vasquez, who is an unemployed single mother, also has a two year-old daughter.  According to the report, Vasquez's mother became concerned when she left the residence on April 15, leaving behind "all of the items used to care for Madison."

Shortly after calling authorities to report her missing, Vasquez used a cell phone to call her mother.  She apparently told her mother that she was in woods because she was causing too many problems for everyone and that "she thought she would be dead by now." 

When Vasquez's mother asked if she could see the baby, she purportedly told her, "You do not want to see the baby right now because she is dead."

By the time authorities found Vasquez, the baby appeared to have been dead "for some time."  Deputies found her wrapped in a blanket, laying on the ground.

When asked if Vasquez had been suffering from postpartum depression, her mother said she seemed fine.

She is being held in the Santa Rosa County jail with no bond.