Tragic: College Freshman Dies Alone After Giving Birth in Dorm Room

The family of a 19-year-old college freshman found dead in her dorm room after giving birth this week said they didn't even know she was pregnant -- and she didn't either.

"She didn't even know," family friend Deborah Bryant told KXTV-TV. "She didn't have no symptoms, and she wasn't a child that hides stuff either."

The coroner said Ayaanah Gibson bled to death alone after naturally delivering a stillborn baby in her dorm room at Benedict College in Columbia, S.C., over the weekend. She was found Tuesday.

Ayaanah Gibson was found dead in her dorm room after giving birth. (Image source: KXTV-TV)

Gibson, a freshman chemistry major and already a brain cancer survivor, arrived on campus three weeks ago from her Sacramento, Calif. home, KXTV reported.

Officials said there were no signs of foul play, but believe Gibson could have survived if she had requested medical help after the delivery.

Image source: KXTV

"She was the best granddaughter a grandmother could have," her grandmother Katie Draughn told KXTV. "Bubbly. We called her 'Yanni.'"

"She was a good girl," Bryant, the family friend, added. "She loved school and she loved college, going away. Now, she has gone to glory land, her and her child."

Her grandmother said Gibson loved volunteering at her church.

"She liked that because it gave her a chance to be around little kids," Draughn told KXTV, "which was one of her passions."

Gibson's grandmother Katie Draughn said her granddaughter loved being around children (Image source: KXTV)

Officials from Benedict College, a Baptist-affiliated school, held a prayer service in the school chapel Thursday.

"Please join the Benedict College family in praying for our fallen Tiger and her family," the school said in a statement.

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