Teen has ‘dangerous’ at-home abortion and buries remains in backyard, PA cops say
A mom and her daughter are facing criminal charges after prosecutors say a fetus aborted at a Pennsylvania home and buried in a backyard put a 17-year-old girl in “grave danger.”
The mother, 50-year-old Shannon Jones, purchased abortion medication online for her 17-year-old daughter to use to end her 20-week pregnancy, according to the Lancaster County District Attorney’s Office. However, the woman did not seek medical supervision, prosecutors said in a June 11 news release.
“Abortion medication is not approved for use beyond the tenth week of pregnancy due to the extreme risks it poses to the mother,” prosecutors said.
The abortion was performed on May 10, 2024 at the East Donegal Township residence, according to investigators. The fetus’s remains were placed in a box underneath the teen’s bed to keep the abortion a secret from family members, prosecutors said.
“We’re either going to get arrested or I’m gonna get divorced,” Jones said in a text message to her daughter, according to prosecutors.
Thirty-seven hours after the “dangerous at-home abortion,” the pair buried the remains in the backyard so the teen’s father would not find out, according to the district attorney’s office.
Jones is charged with endangering the welfare of children, corruption of minors and criminal conspiracy to conceal the death of a child, according to prosecutors. Her daughter, who is now 18 years old, is charged with concealing the death of a child and abuse of a corpse.
The 18-year-old is being charged as a juvenile because she was 17 years old when prosecutors say the accused crimes occurred.
“I want to be abundantly clear that these defendants are not being charged with performing an abortion – as the law prevents us from doing – but for their actions after the abortion,” District Attorney Heather Adams said in a statement. “Additionally, one of the defendants is being charged with endangering the other, a juvenile, before the abortion by purchasing abortion medication for the juvenile’s use against recommended instructions which placed her in grave danger.”
In Pennsylvania, it is legal to get an abortion up until the 23rd week of pregnancy, and in certain cases beyond when pregnancy puts a person’s life in danger, according to the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania’s website.
The case came to investigators’ attention in March when a person provided pictures sent by the daughter showing the fetus, with the umbilical cord attached, lying in a trash bag, prosecutors said.
“The juvenile defendant had sent pictures accompanied by text messages saying she was afraid to touch the newborn because he would still move on his own,” officials said in the news release.
Jones was arraigned and released on June 11, prosecutors said.
East Donegal Township is about a 95-mile drive west from Philadelphia.
This story was originally published June 13, 2025 at 11:47 AM.
