A Chico State University student was arrested on a charge of homicide Saturday morning after police discovered her deceased newborn inside a plastic bag in her sorority house bedroom.

Gina Rose Grinsell, 20, "took the child's life with her own hands after giving birth" on April 1 while alone in her Kappa Sigma Delta sorority house bedroom, according to a Chico Police Department press release.

Police Sgt. Rob Merrifield said Grinsell admitted the child was born alive, but said he could not elaborate on the specific cause of death.

Grinsell was arrested and booked into the Butte County Jail in Oroville and is being held on $1 million bail.

Police said Grinsell had concealed the pregnancy. Officers were tipped off about the alleged homicide after receiving a call from Immediate Care Medical Center on Vallombrosa Avenue that a woman who had been treated there may have given birth.

"Right around the time we arrived at (Grinsell's) residence, some of the others there had gone into her room thinking she may have had a miscarriage," Merrifield said. "That's when they discovered it."

Medical personnel responded, but the infant was pronounced dead at the sorority's chapter house in the 300 block of Cedar Street. Kappa Sigma Delta is a local sorority with about 20 members, said Rick Rees, associate director of student activities.

Rees was notified about the alleged homicide early Saturday morning and said he e-mailed Chico State President Paul Zingg and other university administrators to inform them of the incident.

"The university dispatched a counselor to be of service to those involved," Rees said. "This is a very serious thing where we might be able to provide some services to those students involved."

Greek adviser Connie Huyck was also notified by Chico police. Huyck left the Greek Leadership Conference she was attending in the Bay Area to assist members of Kappa Sigma Delta.

"As an university employee, I want to help them through this," Huyck said, while driving home Saturday night. "There are a lot of emotions they have to be feeling."

Huyck advises national sororities, so she does not typically oversee the local chapter of Kappa Sigma Delta.

She said the homicide is "an anomaly. We couldn't anticipate this happening anywhere in the community. It's a tragic incident to take place and it happened to be at a sorority house."

Huyck said counselors are going to be available for anyone who needs them.

"It's far-reaching and hard to understand," she said. "There are lots of questions, and they may not all get answered."