A New Mexico teenager who was charged with murder after giving birth in a hospital bathroom did not waive her doctor-patient privilege, the state’s highest court ruled.

Alexee Trevizo was a 19-year-old high school senior when she was hospitalized with severe lower back pain after cheerleading practice.

She denied being pregnant, stating that she was on her period. Medical staff administered several intravenous drugs, including morphine.

Dr. Heather Vaskas ordered a pregnancy test, and it came up positive. However, Alexee was not told this result, and she continued to receive morphine and other IV medications for an additional 48 minutes.

Finally, Alexee ran to the restroom, past the nurse’s station, holding her backside.

During the 19 minutes she was locked in the restroom, she gave birth. After cleaning staff discovered the deceased baby in the restroom trash can, the police were summoned.

The charge nurse told police that Alexee “wouldn’t tell us she was pregnant” and she “killed the kid.”

Alexee told police “I’m sorry. It came out of me; I didn’t know what to do.” She added that when she held the baby, there was “no movement, no breathing, nothing.”

She was airlifted to another hospital due to the risk of a life-threatening hemorrhage.

Later, Alexee was charged with first-degree murder and tampering with evidence.

In court, she moved to suppress the statements she gave to the medical staff (doctor-patient privilege) and to police (Miranda rights).

The district court granted her motion, but the state objected that an exception applied to a doctor’s required reports to law enforcement.

The state also asserted that the privilege did not apply to Alexee’s statements because her mother and police officers were present.

The New Mexico Supreme Court upheld the decision in Alexee’s favor in an opinion written by Justice Michael Vigil.

“Once law enforcement was notified that a deceased infant had been found in a bathroom trashcan, Dr. Vaskas and the hospital personnel satisfied their statutory reporting duty,” he wrote. “Beyond those facts, Defendant’s physician-patient privilege remained intact unless otherwise waived.”

Vigil noted that Alexee was under the influence of morphine and suffered from “ongoing life-threatening blood loss” after the delivery.

“Dr. Vaskas, without authorization, ambushed Defendant, bringing with her two armed officers who stood in the doorway of her hospital room, and disclosed her personal medical information to all persons in the room without warning,” he wrote.

“We would ordinarily remand for an evidentiary hearing on this question of capacity to waive,” Vigil added. “However, we do not do so here because the facts unequivocally demonstrate that due to Defendant’s medical condition, she lacked capacity to waive her physician-patient privilege.”