A 23-year-old Baldwin County woman faces charges after her newborn daughter was found dead in a shallow grave at her home.

Brittany Palmer is charged with concealing a death and giving false statements to investigators last week after her father found the baby’s body and alerted authorities, Baldwin County Sheriff Bill Massee said.

Palmer’s father first learned of his daughter’s pregnancy after discovering the baby’s body on his property on Lakemere Lane early in the evening of Oct. 17, Massee said.

Investigators determined Palmer had been pregnant, carried the child to full term and gave birth alone in the bathtub, he said.

“It appears the child died possibly of drowning,” Massee said. “Through the investigation, we feel there was no criminal intent.”

Once the report from Friday’s autopsy has been reviewed, Ocmulgee Judicial Circuit District Attorney Fred Bright will confer with sheriff’s investigators, Massee said.

Bright said Tuesday afternoon that he needs to know if the baby was born alive and the exact cause of death before determining whether additional charges will be filed.

Baldwin County Chief Deputy Coroner Ken Garland said he could not initially determine whether the baby was stillborn and that it could be months before a complete forensic autopsy report is complete.