‘I’m trying not to cry’: Arlington woman behind bars for allegedly killing newborn 20 years ago

An Arlington woman was arrested in December for allegedly killing her newborn baby and dumping the body inside a Phoenix airport trash can nearly 20 years ago.

The Snohomish County Sheriff’s Office said it arrested 51-year-old Annie Anderson on December 21 without incident and booked her into the Snohomish County Jail.

Anderson is believed to have killed her one-day-old daughter, dumping the body inside a bathroom trashcan at Sky Harbor Airport in Phoenix, and getting a flight back to Washington in 2005. The case of Baby Skylar drew national attention as police had no leads or suspects for years.

“When they arrived at the scene, they found a female newborn wrapped in newspapers and a white towel, stuffed in a Marriot bag with red lettering deceased,” Lt. James Hester with Phoenix Police said.

Phoenix homicide detectives, along with the FBI’s Violent Crimes Task Force, were able to use forensic testing called Investigative Genetic Genealogy, or IGG, to find a parental match to Baby Skylar, which led them to Anderson.

Lt. Hester said these sorts of advancements in technology have helped them tremendously.

“Advancements in DNA and other forensic technologies in use by the Phoenix Police Crime Laboratory are getting better every year, which allows law enforcement to reevaluate evidence and find new leads that were not there previously,” Lt. Hester said.

KIRO 7 went to the Arlington neighborhood where Anderson was arrested. Most neighbors we spoke with say they didn’t know Anderson at all and that hardly anyone living at the home she was staying in came out of the house.

One new mother told KIRO 7 off-camera how gut-wrenching the news is.

“I’m trying not to cry thinking about it,” she said. “I can’t imagine.”

Anderson could be charged with first-degree murder and child abuse. She has a hearing date set for March 18.

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