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FORT DODGE, Iowa – One of the Fort Dodge parents accused of drowning their newborn daughter in a bathtub is asking for different public defenders.

Taylor Blaha

Brandon Thoma and Taylor Blaha are charged with first-degree murder. Thoma is also charged with abuse of a corpse.

Court documents filed earlier this week show Blaha submitted a letter to the judge asking for a new public attorney because she did not think her current representation had her best interest in mind. The letter also said she didn’t understand what they told her or what was on the court documents and asked the judge to consider Blaha’s learning disability in the decision.

A hearing on the matter has been scheduled for January 27th.

Blaha and Thoma are accused of drowning their baby daughter, who they named Kayleen, in the bathtub of their apartment shortly after her birth on November 16, 2022. Court documents said Blaha and Thoma killed the child because they were worried neighbors would call police after hearing her cry, and the couple would lose custody of their two-year-old child once methamphetamine was found in the baby’s system.

Brandon Thoma

Thoma is accused of getting rid of the baby’s body. Text messages between the couple indicated the body was initially discarded in a wooded area near the Kenyon Road Bridge. Police searched the area but no body was found.

Police also searched a rural area north of the North Central Iowa Regional Landfill, after Thoma told investigators that was where he discarded the baby’s remains. No remains were found at the location either.

Thoma’s trial is scheduled for August 8th in Webster County.

Blaha’s trial is scheduled for February 28th but will likely be delayed if she is granted new representation.