Tamika Chesser, charged with murdering her partner Julian Story in June, has given birth at James Nash House, the psychiatric facility in Adelaide where she has been held under mental health detention.
Authorities confirmed in November that Chesser was expecting, but that she did not become pregnant while in detention. It remains unclear who the father is or what will happen to the baby.
The birth adds a significant layer of complexity to an already extraordinary case. Story, 39, was found dead at the couple's unit in Port Lincoln in June after police responded to reports of a fire. Chesser is accused of killing Story inside their unit, beheading and dismembering him, setting his body parts on fire and then disposing of the head, which was not found for months.
Chesser, 34, finished in second place on the 2010 season of Beauty and the Geek and had worked as a model before her arrest. In the months before the alleged killing, she had been struggling with her mental health, with her sister later telling media that her condition "started getting worse" and she had been in and out of mental health services.
Health Minister Chris Picton said there were protocols in place to manage pregnancies in mental health custody, and authorities were speaking with Chesser's family about custody. Premier Peter Malinauskas also promised Chesser would have access to very specific services tailored to prison health to ensure the well-being of both mother and child.
Due to Chesser's mental health, it is expected that South Australia will remove the baby from her custody, as Child Protection can remove a baby from a parent and place guardianship with the state.
Chesser has been charged with murder, destroying human remains to pervert the course of justice, and a separate charge of assaulting an emergency worker. She is yet to enter pleas on the charges of murder and perverting the course of justice.
Julian Story's head was eventually recovered in scrub near Port Lincoln when a dog walker discovered what appeared to be a human skull while searching for their dog.