PADUCAH — An 18-year-old Paducah teenager has been charged with murder in connection with the November death of her newborn daughter.

Police were notified just before 2 a.m. Nov. 21, 2011, after the girl called a friend who lives in McCracken County and said she had given birth but that the baby had died and she had buried it in her back yard.

Officers went to the girl’s home on Trimble Street and contacted the girl and her mother, and the girl initially denied the entire story. Police say the girl eventually admitted having given birth to the infant and said it was in a bag in her closet.

An officer found the full-term infant dead in a plastic clothing store-type bag, tied at the top, in the girl’s closet.

Police say the girl told a detective the following: she gave birth to the baby in the bathroom, cleaned it up and took it to her bedroom and laid it on the bed. The baby was alive and looking around for 15-20 minutes. She took pictures of the baby with her cellular telephone but later deleted them.

Police say the girl said the baby died and she put it in the plastic bag. Police say she said her mother was at home all this time but she did not tell her mother what had happened.

An autopsy was performed in November at the state medical examiner’s office in Louisville. Detectives and the local Commonwealth’s Attorney’s office have been waiting for the results of the autopsy and lab work.

After receiving additional information last week from the medical examiner, a detective re-interviewed the girl Monday. After consulting with the Commonwealth’s Attorney’s office, detectives charged the girl with murder.

Because the girl was 17 years old at the time of the infant’s death, she is being charged as a juvenile. It will be up to the Commonwealth’s Attorney’s office whether to seek to have her certified and tried as an adult.