Minutes before, authorities said she gave birth to a boy in a bathroom stall. The fully developed baby was found dead inside a trash bin.
"She was sitting near me and my friends, talking and laughing. She looked like she was having a good time,'' said 16-year-old Jamie Dries. "She looked like nothing was wrong.''
The Lacey Township High School senior, identified in media reports as Melissa Drexler of Forked River, hasn't been charged with a crime.
"The baby was alive during the birthing process,'' said Robert Honecker, a Monmouth County prosecutor. "The medical examiner must determine could the baby have existed independent of the mother.''
Honecker said he expected those results later this week. If the baby was stillborn, no charges would be filed, Honecker said.
The girl arrived at the Garden Manor catering hall in Aberdeen with her date and another couple Friday evening for the Lacey Township High School prom. About an hour after arriving, the girl delivered the baby, put him in a plastic trash liner, dumped the bag with the baby in a different bathroom stall and cleaned herself, Honecker said.
The girl then returned to the festivities, dancing with her date to the Metallica song, according to senior John Behrens.
The girl's parents were in the process of hiring counsel and would not speak to investigators, Honecker said.
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