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In the late 1990s she was convicted for killing her two sons, after she crashed her car in the water and left them to drowned. She suffered with depression and had a very dark childhood that effected her in adulthood.

She at first lied to police saying she got car jacked and that someone stole her sons. But it quickly came up that it was not true and she was responsible for their deaths.

- Jaiden RS

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When Susan Smith's story was first broadcast to the public she appeared to be a distraught mother desperate for the return of her two children. But the sympathy she gained quickly faded as the evidence began to show that she was responsible for her sons' deaths.

Susan Leigh Vaughan was born on September 26, 1971 in Union, South Carolina. She had an unstable childhood. Her father killed himself and she was abused for years by her stepfather. As a result she began to suffer from depression and attempted to take her own life on more than one occasion. This followed her into several up and down relationships, including one she began with David Smith. The two eventually married once Susan became pregnant, but even after the birth of their two boys, their relationship remained rocky and there were indiscretions on both sides.

During one of their separations, Susan began having a relationship with Tom Findlay, who was known as one of the most eligible bachelors in Union. With Findlay, Susan finally believed she would be able to have some stability in her life but, she was mistaken. Findlay did not want the responsibility of a ready-made family; he also wasn't convinced that their different backgrounds and Susan's behavior towards other men were suitable for a committed relationship. He sent her a Dear John letter of sorts explaining all this in October of 1994, and Susan would later say that she had never felt so alone in her life.

On October 25, 1994, a crying Susan was found on the doorstep of a residence near John D. Lake, claiming she had been carjacked and that her sons, three year old Michael and 14 month old Alex, were kidnapped during the crime. For nine days, she and David pleaded with the press for the safe return of their sons, but, to many acquaintances and authorities, something seemed off.

Smith's story was riddled with holes, and each time she was asked about the incident she changed her story. She took several polygraph tests which were all inconclusive. Many of her friends talked about how Susan kept asking if Findlay was coming to see her, which they found odd for a woman who should be distraught over her missing children.

Nine days of intense scrutiny and media attention prompted Susan to confess. On the night of October 25, she had driven down the road with her two sons in the backseat, feeling lonely and suicidal. She drove to John D. Lake and, originally planning to roll into the lake with the car, she abandoned her plans and got out and watched as the car, in neutral, rolled into the water. She was able to give authorities the location of the car, and scuba divers found it and the bodies of her two young sons. At her trial, her defense team claimed that Susan had dependent personality disorder and severe depression, claiming that her need for a stable relationship with Findlay overcame her moral judgment in committing this crime. She was convicted in July 1995 for the murders, although was not given the death penalty. Since her incarceration, two prison guards have been fired after admitting to sleeping with Susan, which resulted in her transfer multiple times through the prison system. She's currently serving her sentence at Leath Correctional Institution in Greenwood, South Carolina and is eligible for parole in 2024.

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When Susan Smith's story was first broadcast to the public she appeared to be a distraught mother desperate for the return of her two children. But the sympathy she gained quickly faded as the evidence began to show that she...

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T.Y.M - Young mother admits to infanticide 

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T.Y.M - Young mother admits to infanticide 

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On Sept. 22nd, 2020, in Tin Shui Wai,  a teenage girl unexpectedly gave birth in the school toilet, stuffed the babies mouth with her gym uniform and left the baby beside the rubbish bin. According to court statements, the girl had a difficult home life and doesn't know why she abandoned the baby. This means that the most likely motive was simply panic regarding the situation. This could have been prevented by intervention regarding the girl's home life and therapy to help her work through the trauma, if she had felt she had a support system she may not have abandoned the baby. Additionally further education regarding pregnancy could have prevented the situation, as had the girl known she was pregnant prior to giving birth she could have more time to mentally prepare and to create a plan for after the baby was born.

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File photo.

A secondary six girl who delivered a baby in a school toilet, stuffed the baby's mouth with her PE uniform and left behind the baby next to a rubbish bin three years ago, pleaded guilty to infanticide in the High Court on Thursday, as the judge described the case as a tragedy.

The girl, identified as "T.Y.M." in the court, appeared before Judge Susana D'Almada Remedios this morning. She pleaded not guilty to murder but admitted to infanticide for causing the death of her unnamed baby girl under the age of 12 months in Tin Shui Wai on September 22, 2020.

In mitigation, the defense said TYM was from a broken family and lacked parents' love, caring, and guidance. TYM was in extreme fear and pain when she accidentally delivered the baby, and the details were shocking and heartbreaking.

The defense added TYM had little memories of the incident. She didn't think about it and didn't know why she killed the baby and abandoned the body at the time.

The Standard Channel

The father wrote in the mitigation letter that he regretted what happened and believed he should be held accountable and jailed instead of TYM. He added he and TYM stopped seeing each other after they broke up, and he had no idea she was pregnant.

Judge Remedios said this case was a tragedy and believed TYM was facing exceedingly difficult circumstances at the time. She adjourned the case to May 25 for sentencing, pending a probation report.

The court heard that TYM was attending a PE lesson that day but felt unwell and went to the medical room. She later went into a toilet booth, as she experienced immense pain and heard a loud bang. She then found she was bleeding profusely, and a baby had fallen onto the toilet seat.

To prevent the baby's crying from being heard, TYM used a part of her PE uniform to gag the baby's mouth. TYM also wrapped the baby's body with a towel and placed the baby inside a blue plastic bag, which she left in a student common room.

TYM then left school early, and on her way home, she was spotted by a female pedestrian forcing the blue plastic bag into a rubbish bin but failed. The blue plastic bag was later left on the side of the bin. Another male pedestrian approached the bag early the following day and opened it with his stick, only to find the baby's body. He immediately filed a police report.

As paramedics arrived, they found the baby's limbs were stiff and cold, and she had stopped breathing. Her buttocks were bruised, and there was an indentation to the skull. There were ants crawling over the body as well. An autopsy ruled that the baby died of suffocation.

A psychiatrist summoned by the defense said TYM suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder.

Yet, another psychiatrist summoned by the prosecution disagreed and said TYM was depressed and felt guilty. The psychiatrist added TYM's mind was significantly disturbed by the acute mental and physical stress and exhaustion caused by the unexpected delivery.

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Secondary six girl admits infanticide after leaving newborn next to rubbish bin

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A secondary six girl who delivered a baby in a school toilet, stuffed the baby's mouth with her PE uniform and left behind the baby next to a rubbish bin three years ago, pleaded guilty to infanticide in the High Court on Thursday, as the judge described the case as a tragedy.

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Summary:
-In 1983, a 27 year old divorced postal service worker shot her three children and accused a stranger of it in Springfield, Oregon. Her storyline was the basis of 'Small Sacrifices' the tv show.
Motive:
Her obsession with a married man who did not want her children
Preventative measure:
-providing mothers with government support and resources so they do not have to depend on abusive and neglectful partners.
-Priscilla Kirabo-

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A women called Lauren Saint George, 25 years old, was found guilty in killing her 10-week-old daughter, Lily Mai George. The death of Lily was found to be serious head injury and 18 rib fractures with two leg fractures and severe bruises. Reporters said that the incident happened when a social worker prevented her from taking her child with her after being warned to go to a residential care.

I think if the social support system have more observation and prevention on Lauren, they can prevent such infanticide. Moreover, many people often forget that there are many women who suffer postpartum depression and postpartum blue. This could have being a reason of such infanticide. People should be more caring on new mommies.

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A young mum shook her baby to death after social workers allowed her to go home from hospital despite medical staff warnings over her ability to care for the child.

Lauren Saint George, 25, was convicted of the infanticide of 10-week-old Lily-Mai George who died from a serious head injury and also suffered 18 rib fractures, two leg fractures and severe bruising.

She snapped and attacked her daughter six days after taking the baby home when social workers told her she would have to go into residential care if she wanted to keep her.

The verdict means the jury decided she had killed her daughter but was not fully responsible for her actions because of the effects of childbirth or lactation. Jurors cleared her of murder, manslaughter, and cruelty towards the baby.

The judge adjourned sentencing Saint George until September 9 to allow for a report to be prepared by the Probation Service.

But he told her that any prison sentence would be suspended, as she had already "suffered and continues to suffer".

Saint George wept in the dock at the Old Bailey as the verdicts were delivered.

Lily-Mai's father Darren Hurrell, 25, was cleared of cruelty.

Lily-Mai was born prematurely in November, 2017, and kept in Barnet Hospital, north London, where staff were concerned about a lack of bonding between mother and baby.

Jurors heard that four days after the birth Saint George refused to visit her daughter on the ward, telling staff she was busy having her dinner.

When she finally agreed to visit her midwives were horrified to see her standing with her back to the baby. Her parents would feed themselves before feeding Lily-Mai.

Saint George and Hurrell had been homeless and staff had tried to stop them taking Lily-Mai away from hospital, believing they were incapable of looking after her.
'Feeling of anxiety'
The mother had told staff that she hated the noises Lily-Mai made and wished she would "cry instead of groaning".

Prosecutor Sally O'Neill QC told the Old Bailey jury: "Almost all of the professionals at the hospital were opposed to the baby being discharged into the parents' care at home and had expressed their concerns about the parents' ability to meet the baby's emotional, developmental and physical needs on many occasions to the social services."

Three referrals were made by hospital staff to social services expressing concern while Lily-Mai was still in hospital.

Alicia Jack, former social services manager at Enfield council, dismissed the first one as there was "no information" on their system about the family, the court was told.

She investigated and decided that no further action was needed regarding the second referral and rejected the third referral as the parents had moved and their case had become the responsibility of Haringey Council.

Sithembile Dzingai, a locality manager who had been involved in discussions about Lily-Mai's care, said: "There was no robust discharge plan to safeguard Lily-Mai.

"In my 12 years as a health visitor I have never had such a feeling of anxiety about a case as I did about Lily-Mai being discharged."
Early January 2018
In early January, 2018, the parents were provided accommodation in Belmont Road, North London and after two months in hospital Lily-Mai was discharged into the couple's care on 25 January.

Responsibility for Lily-Mai's case had been taken over by Haringey Social Services, the same authority heavily criticised for its failings in the notorious Baby P and Victoria Climbié child abuse cases.

Lily-Mai died at Great Ormond Street Children's Hospital on 2 February after her parents found her unresponsive at their home two days earlier.

Details of what happened during Lily-Mai's final weeks was explored in great detail during the trial, largely through evidence from health and social workers.
12 January 2018
Theresa Ferguson, a qualified social worker for two years, was allocated Lily-Mai's case, her first of this scale, on 12 January 2018. At the time she said she had 36 open assessments and 41 allocated cases.

She told the court that she was given the case because the more senior member of the team could not take on any more work.

Ms Ferguson attended a professionals meeting to discuss Lily-Mai's discharge and care on 16 January at Barnet Hospital.

Midwife Marie Creighton said the social worker had a "generally disinterested attitude" when she first attended the meeting.

"I remember her...sauntering in with a miserable look on her face," she said.

"She said she had been to Lauren and Darren's flat and everything was fine and she didn't understand why she was called into the meeting, 'Why are we even discussing her?' She displayed a generally disinterested attitude."

Ms Creighton went on to say that Ms Ferguson's attitude changed as hospital staff explained their concerns.
22 January
Ms Ferguson attended a further discharge planning meeting on 22 January and two days later made a referral for a "legal gateway meeting".

The day after taking this first step to intervene in Lily-Mai's care, Ms Ferguson went on annual leave. She went away for four days on the day of the baby's discharge on 25 January.

Ms Ferguson told the court she did not feel that proposed plans to protect Lily-Mai once she was discharged would safeguard guard her.

She said: "I was really worried about her going home. I was told that with the management there had been conversations and there was not a consideration for a placement at that point and Lily-Mai would be returning home."

Duty social worker Muriel Caboste was allocated the case in the meantime and visited the family on 26 January. She said she left feeling there were no increased child protection issues but noted that the parents were not following the feeding and medication chart.

No visits were made on 27, 28 or 29 January.
29 January
On 29 January the family went to see Darren Hurrell's support worker, Anthony Monbelly and he described Hurrell as a "very proud dad" and a "doting parent" compared with Saint George who he said had "little or no intervention" with the baby.

On 30 January, on her return from annual leave, Ms Ferguson visited the parents.

Prosecutor Ms O'Neill told jurors: "Lily-Mai's skin had a mottled appearance and although Darren Hurrell told Ms Feguson what they had been told to look out for by the hospital, which included the baby developing a pale appearance. He explained it by saying that the baby had a marble complexion."

Health visitor Alberta Nyantaki also visited that day and said Saint George was "on the bed" the whole of her visit and not "fully engaged". She felt that Hurrell was the main carer and saw him give Lily-Mai cuddles and kisses.

The health visitor expressed "serious concerns" to Ms Ferguson after her visit, but was reassured by her that the threshold for a child care protection plan had been met and the legal process had been started.
31 January
The social worker visited the family again the next day, 31 January, to tell the parents that they would need to go into a residential unit or Lily-Mai might be taken away from them. Residential placement meant professionals could observe the parents taking care of the baby.

Ms Ferguson said Saint George was "very despondent" on hearing the proposed plan and told her: "You want to take her, just take her, that's fine." But Hurrell was willing to go into the residential unit.

Ms Ferguson said: "I had quite a thorough conversation with Darren making it clear that he was not to leave Lily-Mai with Lauren.

"He felt he would be able to call the police if he needed to and there would be options where he could go to stay if he needed to. I was confident that Darren was able to safeguard Lily-Mai."

Four or five hours later Saint George called 999 to report that her baby had stopped breathing. Lily-Mai died two days later.

Saint George told police she had tried to be a good mother but had suffered from depression. She said she had never shaken or harmed Lily-Mai.

Hurrell said the baby's injuries could have been caused accidentally: a bump in the bath, a sudden jolt in her pram on a bus or when he had grabbed her leg to stop her falling off a bed.

Neither parent gave evidence in court.
'Deeply saddened'
Haringey Council chief executive Andy Donald and Haringey Council leader Cllr Peray Ahmet said: "We are deeply saddened by the tragic death of Lily-Mai and our thoughts are with those who loved and cared for her during her short life.

"We would like to say how sorry we are that Lily-Mai did not receive the care and protection she deserved.

"There are clearly lessons to be learned and the Haringey Safeguarding Children Partnership has already commissioned a Serious Case Review from an independent expert which, now the trial proceedings are complete, will be concluded and published.

"We are confident we have now made improvements which could have better protected Lily-Mai and we are absolutely committed to protecting children and young people in our borough."

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Woman found guilty of infanticide of 10-week-old daughter who was discharged into her care against medical advice

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A young mum shook her baby to death after social workers allowed her to go home from hospital despite medical staff warnings over her ability to care for the child. Lauren Saint George, 25, was convicted of the infanticide of 10-week-old Lily-Mai George who died from a serious head injury and also suffered 18 rib fractures, two leg fractures and severe bruising.

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Shannon Rayner was charged with infant code after the remains of two children were found at the place she was living. The reason her property was searched was because of information that she had been pregnant twice though there was no evidence of her having any young children. Later that same year, a third child was found, also deceased. She pleaded guilty at her court case on three counts of infanticide. Rayner cooperated with court and her sentence was decided based on facts of how she handled it, and her honesty after it had been settled.

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This Vancouver woman was found guilty of infanticide on two accounts. She was reportedly terrified of being disowned by her strict parents so she secretly gave birth into her toilet and disposed of the bodies in the trash. She did this twice, once in 2009 and again in 2010. She was charged with 2 accounts of second dredger murder for both infants. She said she felt guilty for what she had done, and tried to plead that she was depressed but the court found no evidence of that and said the she is a convincing liar and capable of deceit and manipulation. Both times she hid the evidence of the bodies and told her boyfriend she had miscarried.

https://globalnews.ca/news/1469126/update-sentencing-hearing-set-to-resume-for-woman-found-guilty-in-the-death-of-2-newborn-sons/

Erin Wilson

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WATCH: Sentencing resumed for the woman responsible for the deaths of her two infants. Rumina Daya has the latest from Monday's court proceedings.
VANCOUVER - A sentence is expected to be handed down on Oct. 7 for a woman convicted of two counts of infanticide against her newborn sons.

Crown is asking for eight years in jail for Sarah Leung; three years for the death of the first child, and five years for the death of the second child. The defence is asking for a three-year term and said Crown has not proved this is murder.

Defence is also asking for a 20-year court order that would require Leung to report all pregnancies to the Ministry of Children and Families.

The first baby was killed in April of 2009, and the second in March of 2010.

On Friday, Sept. 12, Leung took the stand and said she was ashamed for the death of her two baby boys. She apologized for the hurt she has caused and said when she sees other moms with their kids, she thinks that could have been her.

In court Monday, Sept. 8, defence painted Leung as a depressed, lonely person, but Crown argued there is no evidence of that.

On April 11, Leung was found guilty in the deaths of her two babies and was ordered to complete a mental health assessment before sentencing.

The 28-year-old Leung was charged with second-degree murder after giving birth to two babies in the toilet of her family's east Vancouver home and then disposing them in plastic bags she tossed in the garbage. Each time she hid the evidence and told her boyfriend she had miscarried.

According to Crown, Leung had been sexually active since the age of 16, something her parents didn't approve of. The Crown said in court Monday that Leung chose to kill the babies because "she didn't want to change her life."

Although Leung was charged with second-degree murder, the jury opted for the lesser charge of infanticide. Her lawyer had argued she was so terrified of being disowned she disposed of the bodies after secretly giving birth.

The Crown said in court Monday that Leung has no signs of mental disorder or irrationality and is a convincing liar. The Crown also said Leung is capable of great deceit, and is very manipulative.

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'I'm ashamed for the deaths of my 2 baby boys': Mother convicted of infanticide | Globalnews.ca

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WATCH: Sentencing resumed for the woman responsible for the deaths of her two infants. Rumina Daya has the latest from Monday's court proceedings. VANCOUVER - A sentence is expected to be handed down on Oct. 7 for a woman convicted of two counts of infanticide against her newborn sons.

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On August 30, 2005 28-day old Paris was placed in a microwave for 2 minutes. She died within seconds.

China Arnold got into an argument with her boyfriend over their daughter, Paris's paternity.

I believe access to mental health might have prevented this case of infanticide.

https://thewickedtruthblog.com/shes-the-worst-mother-in-ohio-30c3ce053053

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On August 29, 2005, China Arnold got into a drunken argument with her boyfriend Terrell over infidelity. He warned that if their 28-day newborn baby, Paris Talley, wasn't his biological child, he would leave her, for good.

After Terrell stormed out of the apartment, China decided to do something pure evil. Something you would think no mother could ever be capable of.

China put Paris in the microwave, set it for two minutes, and took off.

China returned home hours later and fell asleep on the couch.

When Terrell returned home early the next morning, he found China on the couch with Paris curled up at her feet. He picked the baby up, only to find that she was cold and stiff to the touch. Large red burn marks covered her body.

Paris was rushed to the hospital but it was far too late. She was pronounced dead. Her internal temperature had peaked at 108° Fahrenheit and medical examiner, Dr. Fierro later testified that Paris had literally been cooked.

When Terrell demanded to know what had happened, China responded, " I killed my baby " and said that if not for him, Paris would still be alive.

In November 2006, China faced trial for charges of Aggravated Murder. She insisted she had no memory of microwaving her baby daughter.

Suddenly, Terrell came forward with a shocking admission that no one expected. He testified that his 10-year-old son had recently confided in him that he witnessed his cousin stuff Paris inside the microwave and turn it on.

The judge was forced to order a new trial.

Microwave-mom China Arnold's luck ran out when the mother of the boy provided testimony and evidence that her son wasn't even home on the day of Paris' death, making it impossible for him to have committed the murder.

China was convicted and sentenced to life in prison without parole.

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On August 29, 2005, China Arnold got into a drunken argument with her boyfriend Terrell over infidelity. He warned that if their 28-day newborn baby, Paris Talley, wasn't his biological child, he would leave her, for good. After Terrell stormed out of the apartment, China decided to do something pure evil.

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https://abcnews.go.com/2020/infamous-cases-moms-allegedly-murder-kids/story?id=10588541
A mother, living with her boyfriend at the time placed her 3 year old daughter in a microwave. This was done during a dispute with her boyfriend regarding the child's true biological father. I believe that this case could have been prevented if the mother had accesss to mental health resorces after seperating from the child's biological father to determine whether she would have been well equipped to have custody over the child or whether leaving the child in the care of protective services/foster parents would have been a better option for both.
-Davy Mokaya

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May 11, 2010&#151; -- Nobody can imagine why seemingly loving, devoted mothers would ever harm their own flesh and blood. But more than 200 women a year kill their children in the United States, according to the American Anthropological Association.

The shocking and unimaginable crimes of child-killers have gripped the nation for decades. Here's a look back at the famous cases of mothers accused of murder.
Diane Downs
Long before the infamous cases of Susan Smith and Andrea Yates, the nation was gripped by the story of Diane Downs, who shot her three children, killing one.

In 1983, Downs, a 27-year-old divorced postal service worker, told police that a "bushy-haired stranger" flagged down her car and shot her three children on a back road near Springfield, Oregon.

Her daughter Cheryl, 7, was dead on arrival at the hospital, and her other children -- Christie, 8, and Danny, 3, were clinging to life.

Downs' story about the stranger did not add up. Reading through her secret diaries, police found a motive: an obsession with a married man who didn't want her children. In February 1984, nine months after the shootings, they arrested her and charged her with one count of murder and two counts of attempted murder.

Downs' trial was a national spectacle that was later depicted in the TV movie "Small Sacrifices," starring Farrah Fawcett as Downs.

She was sentenced to life in prison plus 50 years. Downs will be eligible for parole in 2011.
Susan Smith
In October 1994, Susan Smith drowned her two young sons, buckling them into their car seats and pushing the car into a South Carolina lake. The car sank with the sleeping children in the back.

Smith initially told police that a black man had hijacked her car and abducted the children. Americans desperately searched for the boys for nine days until Smith confessed that she killed her sons, Michael, 3, and 14-month-old Alex.

She was convicted of the two murders in July 1995 and sentenced to life in prison. A judge rejected Smith's appeal in March 2010. She is eligible for parole in November 2024.
Andrea Yates
In June 2001, Andrea Yates methodically drowned her five children in the bathtub in their Houston home. The case shocked the American public.

Yates told police and psychiatrists after the crime that Satan ordered her to kill sons Noah, 7; John, 5; Paul, 3; Luke, 2; and 6-month-old daughter Mary, to save them from eternal damnation.

Yates, a former nurse and the valedictorian of her high school, suffered from mental illness for years -- depression with bouts of psychosis, suicide attempts and hospitalizations.

In tapes of Yates' psychological evaluation, released exclusively to " Primetime" in 2006, she recalled details of the morning she murdered her kids, describing how she waited until her husband left to start filling the tub. "Drowning them" was "all I thought about," she said.

Yates was convicted of capital murder in March 2002, rejecting the defense argument that she was insane at the time of the killings. But in 2006, Yates was retried and found not guilty by reason of insanity and was committed to a state mental hospital.
China Arnold
China Arnold was accused of killing her 3-week-old daughter in a microwave oven in Dayton, Ohio, on Aug. 30, 2005. Investigators said the baby, Paris Talley, was burned to death in the oven after Arnold and her boyfriend had an argument over who the child's biological father was. Arnold was sentenced to life in prison without parole Sept. 8, 2008. Judge Mary Wiseman told Arnold during the trial, "No adjectives exist to adequately describe this heinous atrocity. This act is shocking and utterly abhorrent for a civilized society."
Casey Anthony
Casey Anthony, 23, is awaiting trial on first-degree murder charges in the death of her 2-year-old daughter Caylee. She has pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder. She has been in an Orange County, Florida, prison since the summer of 2008.

Caylee lived with her grandparents and her single mother, Casey. Caylee disappeared in June 2008, but was not reported missing until a month later. Anthony told police she left Caylee at the apartment of a babysitter named Zenaida Fernandez Gonzalez, and that both were missing when she returned. Police found, among other discrepancies in Anthony's story, that the apartment had been vacant for more than 140 days.

Investigators said Anthony repeatedly misled and lied to police in the course of their work. She was named a suspect in her daughter's disappearance and charged with the Caylee's murder in October 2008.

After a six-month-long search, remains of Caylee's body were found in Orlando, Florida, in December 2008.

Anthony is back in court this week for crucial hearings that could determine where her murder trial will be held next year and what evidence the jury will hear. A judge refused to rule out the death penalty and said he will leave it up to the jury to decide whether she should be sentenced to death if convicted of her daughter's murder.
Michelle Kehoe
Michelle Kehoe, 36, was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole on charges of first-degree murder in the death of her 2-year-old son Seth, and an attempted-murder charge related to her 7-year-old son, Sean.

Kehoe and her sons were reported missing by her husband, Eugene Kehoe, after the boys and their mother reportedly left to go visit relatives in Sumner, Iowa, on Oct. 26, 2008. The next morning, Kehoe walked into the home of residents in Littleton, Iowa, and told them that her sons were in danger.

Seth was found dead outside the family's van. Autopsy results revealed the boy had died from severe cuts to his neck. His older brother, Sean, was found struggling for his life inside the vehicle and had suffered similar cuts.

According to the arrest warrant affidavit, Kehoe falsely claimed that her children had been abducted. "She stated that she couldn't explain why she had done it. She stated that she couldn't face anyone. She stated that she wanted to die or be locked up where she couldn't hurt anyone else," the affidivit read.

At the trial in October 2009, Kehoe pleaded not guilty. Her attorneys argued that she suffered from extreme mental illness. An Iowa jury heard a tape of her surviving son telling police how his mother covered his eyes, nose and mouth with duct tape, slashed his throat, and then did the same to his younger brother. On Nov. 5, 2009, she was found guilty of first-degree murder, attempted murder and child endangerment causing serious injury.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Most Infamous Alleged Mommy Murderers in History

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May 11, 2010— -- Nobody can imagine why seemingly loving, devoted mothers would ever harm their own flesh and blood. But more than 200 women a year kill their children in the United States, according to the American Anthropological Association. The shocking and unimaginable crimes of child-killers have gripped the nation for decades.

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Yeeda Tophan is an Australian woman who killed her son by jumping with him out of the eighth floor of a building. Yeeda sustained severe injuries and permanent impairments to herself. She had tried to take her son's and her own life twice before, as she suffered severe depression following falling out with her husband. The court ruled not guilty and Yeeda did not serve any punishment besides the time spent in custody, although under the premise that she continues to receive psychiatric care.
It was mentioned in the news article that many relatives of Yeeda pleaded for her to court to not convict her.  Certain relatives went as far as to say that it was a mistake for James (the son) to fall under Yeeda's care. In that case, if the relatives had acted sooner and intervened more firmly, especially after previous suicide attempts, Yeeda's son, James may be alive today.
https://canadiancrc.com/Newspaper_Articles/AAP_Baby_Killing_Mother_Walks_Free-Yeeda_Topham_killed_her_baby_son_05DEC09.aspx
------Stefan Xiademan

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Virtual Library of Newspaper Articles

Australian Associated Press AAP, By Warwick Stanley, December 05, 2008

A WOMAN who killed her infant son by jumping with him from the eighth floor of a city apartment block has walked free after being convicted of manslaughter.

Yeeda Topham, 40, of Roleystone near Perth, had pleaded guilty in the West Australian Supreme Court to a charge of unlawfully killing 21-month-old James Topham on November 5 last year.

Topham, a small, frail woman who suffered multiple injuries and was permanently impaired in the fall, supported herself on crutches and trembled in the dock on Friday as the court heard she had twice tried to take the lives of herself and her son.

She wiped away tears as the court was told she had written poems and a suicide note while suffering from severe depression and what she believed was the loss of her "bond" with her son.

Topham, who has been in custody since James' death, was sentenced to a term "equal to the time spent in custody".

She walked from the court with the help of relatives soon after being freed by Justice John McKechnie.

Justice McKechnie told the court there was no punishment he could impose in such a "sad case, whichever way it's looked at".

"As has been said by wiser judges than me, where justice ends mercy begins," he said.

He said the taking of life could not be condoned, particularly in a case where someone so young had been taken away.

Justice McKechnie said the boy's paternal grandmother had been aware of her daughter-in-law's fragile state and said in a letter: "I cannot understand why he was left in her care."

She did not understand Topham's mental illness but said "taking James has ruined so many lives".

"You have taken away a grandson and caused immense grief," Justice McKechnie told Topham.

"Human frailty overcame all your normal inhibitions."

The court was told Topham was a former teacher whose marriage was deteriorating when she first tried to take her life in 2006.

She failed in an attempt to gas herself and James by diverting a hose from the tailpipe of her car.

Justice McKechnie said Topham had been "very determined" to take her own life and that the falling out with her husband may have played a part in her suicide bids.

The fact she had gone to the place where they had lived together to jump from the balcony indicated "an element of vengeance", he said.

Director of Public Prosecutions David Dempster did not oppose the defence's request for a suspended sentence.

Mr Dempster said Topham should be freed provided she continued to receive psychiatric treatment.

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Canadian Children's Rights Council - Conseil canadien des droits des enfants

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Yeeda Topham - Mother murders infant son and walks free | Austalian Associated Press 045DEC08

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Virtual Library of Newspaper Articles Australian Associated Press AAP, By Warwick Stanley, December 05, 2008 A WOMAN who killed her infant son by jumping with him from the eighth floor of a city apartment block has walked free after being convicted of manslaughter.

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Shannon Rayner was sentenced to 6 years in prison for killing 3 of her newborn babies. This occurred over the years of 2014-2016 and she was caught when her neighbours became suspicious of her multiple pregnancies but no young children.

The motive behind this act of infanticide is unknown, but Rayner's mental state was described as "disturbed" when evaluated by psychiatrists. The assessment was unable to determine if she had a mental disorder impacting her during the time of these crimes.

In order to prevent this case, I think that Rayner needed psychological therapy and treatment. Clearly this is an individual who has some type of mental health issue and needs help dealing with this.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/prince-edward-island/pei-infanticide-shannon-rayner-sentencing-hearing-1.5302454

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A Winnipeg Women was charged with manslaughter and concealing the body of a child. The newborn was found in a garbage bin but authorities. The likely motive for this was lack of support during pregnancy as well as when taking care of the baby. Moar, had struggled with substance abuse, fetal alcohol  spectrum disorder and had experienced domestic abuse. These are all factors that could lead to Infanticide. I think ensuring people have access to support systems and resources before/during/after pregnancy is crucial. - Morgan Worthington https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/jeanene-rosa-moar-infanticide-manslaughter-experts-1.6485231

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An expert on mothers who kill their newborns says she was dismayed to see a Winnipeg woman charged with manslaughter this week in the death of her infant daughter.

Kirsten Kramar, a sociology instructor at the University of Calgary, said the charges laid against Jeanene Rosa Moar fit into a puzzling pattern of how Canadian prosecutors approach the rare crime of infanticide.

Moar was charged with manslaughter after police said the body of her newborn daughter was discovered in a Winnipeg garbage bin last month. She was also charged with concealing the body of a child.

Kramar said her frustration stems from the fact that in Canada, there's another charge meant to specifically address those kinds of situations: infanticide.

The Criminal Code defines the offence as a wilful act or omission by a mother that causes the death of her newborn, if at the time she "is not fully recovered from the effects of giving birth ... or of the effect of lactation."

While a manslaughter conviction can carry up to a life sentence in prison, the maximum punishment for infanticide is five years, Kramar said.

"We need to be thinking about solutions other than prosecution and incarceration, particularly for women like this," said Kramar, who wrote the book Unwilling Mothers, Unwanted Babies: Infanticide in Canada.

"They think that if they use the harsher punishment framework, that they're somehow going to be deterring other women from committing these kinds of crimes."

But that shows a lack of understanding about the conditions that lead to the exceedingly rare crime of infanticide, she said.

Root causes

Mothers convicted of killing their newborns often had little or no support during their pregnancies, said Katreena Scott, academic director for the Centre for Research and Education on Violence Against Women and Children at Western University.

Similar cases also often involve domestic violence or mental illness, Scott said.

Moar, whose arrest was announced Wednesday, has struggled with addictions, homelessness and fetal alcohol spectrum disorder, a court was told during a 2018 sentencing hearing for the now 31-year-old.

Court also heard she had a "fairly good" though transient upbringing, until her mother's boyfriend kicked her out of their house when she was 18. That same boyfriend had also been "emotionally and/or sexually harassing" her, court heard.

Solutions that can address the root causes of infanticide depend on the circumstances in each case, Kramar said. They can include things like making sure women have appropriate supports throughout their pregnancy, and access to birth control and abortion.

Canada's infanticide law is also meant to draw attention to the social circumstances surrounding women who find themselves "with unwanted babies and no options," said Kramar.

"It's not as though we're just dismissing the fact that there was a baby that was killed.... But we're also turning our minds to the various different issues that are [at] play when it comes to mothers who find themselves with unwanted pregnancies," she said.

"If we use this harsh punishment framework, then we can tell ourselves we're doing something, when in fact, you're not really doing anything at all except ... handing out a punitive measure to a woman who's already obviously living in straitened circumstances."

Precedent in Canada

Kramar said the trend of prosecutors laying more serious charges against women who kill their infants includes the case of Meredith Borowiec.

The Calgary woman was charged with second-degree murder after she told police she left three of her newborns in dumpsters.

Borowiec ended up instead convicted on two counts of infanticide - a conviction the Supreme Court of Canada upheld in 2016, marking the first time it examined the infanticide law.

That's part of why Kramar said she's puzzled that Moar stands accused of manslaughter instead of infanticide.

"It's not in the public interest. If the case goes to trial ... valuable public resources will be put to use," she said.

"And in the end, the result would likely be the same if they had charged infanticide or were able to negotiate a plea arrangement."

In Borowiec's case, Crown attorneys had argued the wording of Canada's infanticide law is vague, outdated and leaves too much room for new mothers to kill their babies, regardless of moral culpability.

But the top court's unanimous decision to uphold Borowiec's infanticide convictions and preserve the law as it stood set a precedent, said D. Scharie Tavcer, an associate professor in the criminal justice program at Mount Royal University.

Tavcer said securing a manslaughter conviction instead of one for infanticide still requires prosecutors to prove both the criminal intent and action needed for that charge.

"I don't know what the investigators know" in Moar's case, she said.

But a manslaughter conviction would require proving "some type of criminal intent, criminal mind - the mens rea - in the heat of passion, a sudden provocation, versus the infanticide, where mom is unwell."

Winnipeg police said this week the decision to lay the manslaughter charge against Moar was made in consultation with Crown prosecutors.

When asked about the charges on Friday, a spokesperson for the Manitoba Prosecution Service said in an email it reviews "the evidence and circumstances of each case and determine[s] which charges properly reflect what has occurred."

Kramar says cases like the one unfolding in Winnipeg show just how much progress still needs to be made to address the types of situations that lead to infanticide.

"These kinds of cases are a bit like the canary in the coal mine," she said.

"When our weakest and most vulnerable members of society end up committing these kinds of offences, it says a lot more about society than it does about the individuals themselves."

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Infanticide expert puzzled to see Winnipeg mother charged with manslaughter in newborn's death | CBC News

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An expert on mothers who kill their newborns says she was dismayed to see a Winnipeg woman charged with manslaughter this week in the death of her infant daughter. Kirsten Kramar, a sociology instructor at the University of Calgary, said the charges laid against Jeanene Rosa Moar fit into a puzzling pattern of how Canadian prosecutors approach the rare crime of infanticide.

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Shannon Rayner was sentenced to 6 years for infanticide. She gave birth to 3 full-term babies over 2014-2016 and was convicted of infanticide for killing those three babies. Rayner pleaded guilty and was cooperative in court.

The motivation is not clear but I could imagine that having 3 babies in three years would be difficult on one's mental health and it may have been difficult to get the mental health support she needed.

I think that having more support by her side may have prevented this case and being checked in with by healthcare professionals postpartum.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/prince-edward-island/pei-shannon-rayner-infanticide-sentence-1.5372008

- Sonia Sarai

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Shannon Rayner sentenced to 6 years for infanticide | CBC News

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A Charlottetown woman convicted of infanticide for killing three of her newborn babies was sentenced Monday to six years in prison.

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A girl who identified as "T.Y.M" admits infanticide after leaving her newborn next to a rubbish bin in 2020. She delivered the baby in a school toilet, where she proceeded to gag the baby's mouth to prevent the baby's cries from being heard. She then left the baby behind inside a blue plastic bag. The baby died of suffocation. She pleaded not guilty to murder but admitted to infanticide.

Based on the statements of the psychiatrist summoned by the defence, it was said that TYM suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder. However, another psychiatrist by the prosecution said TYM was depressed and felt guilty instead. She was heavily impacted by the unexpected delivery and went through acute mental and physical stress.

I believe one of the things that could have been done to prevent this case of infanticide would be better access to mental health support systems, to help address the emotional and psychological well-being of individuals in vulnerable situations.

Source: https://www.thestandard.com.hk/breaking-news/section/4/203339/Secondary-six-girl-admits-infanticide-after-leaving-newborn-next-to-rubbish-bin

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File photo.

A secondary six girl who delivered a baby in a school toilet, stuffed the baby's mouth with her PE uniform and left behind the baby next to a rubbish bin three years ago, pleaded guilty to infanticide in the High Court on Thursday, as the judge described the case as a tragedy.

The girl, identified as "T.Y.M." in the court, appeared before Judge Susana D'Almada Remedios this morning. She pleaded not guilty to murder but admitted to infanticide for causing the death of her unnamed baby girl under the age of 12 months in Tin Shui Wai on September 22, 2020.

In mitigation, the defense said TYM was from a broken family and lacked parents' love, caring, and guidance. TYM was in extreme fear and pain when she accidentally delivered the baby, and the details were shocking and heartbreaking.

The defense added TYM had little memories of the incident. She didn't think about it and didn't know why she killed the baby and abandoned the body at the time.

The Standard Channel

The father wrote in the mitigation letter that he regretted what happened and believed he should be held accountable and jailed instead of TYM. He added he and TYM stopped seeing each other after they broke up, and he had no idea she was pregnant.

Judge Remedios said this case was a tragedy and believed TYM was facing exceedingly difficult circumstances at the time. She adjourned the case to May 25 for sentencing, pending a probation report.

The court heard that TYM was attending a PE lesson that day but felt unwell and went to the medical room. She later went into a toilet booth, as she experienced immense pain and heard a loud bang. She then found she was bleeding profusely, and a baby had fallen onto the toilet seat.

To prevent the baby's crying from being heard, TYM used a part of her PE uniform to gag the baby's mouth. TYM also wrapped the baby's body with a towel and placed the baby inside a blue plastic bag, which she left in a student common room.

TYM then left school early, and on her way home, she was spotted by a female pedestrian forcing the blue plastic bag into a rubbish bin but failed. The blue plastic bag was later left on the side of the bin. Another male pedestrian approached the bag early the following day and opened it with his stick, only to find the baby's body. He immediately filed a police report.

As paramedics arrived, they found the baby's limbs were stiff and cold, and she had stopped breathing. Her buttocks were bruised, and there was an indentation to the skull. There were ants crawling over the body as well. An autopsy ruled that the baby died of suffocation.

A psychiatrist summoned by the defense said TYM suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder.

Yet, another psychiatrist summoned by the prosecution disagreed and said TYM was depressed and felt guilty. The psychiatrist added TYM's mind was significantly disturbed by the acute mental and physical stress and exhaustion caused by the unexpected delivery.

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Secondary six girl admits infanticide after leaving newborn next to rubbish bin

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A secondary six girl who delivered a baby in a school toilet, stuffed the baby's mouth with her PE uniform and left behind the baby next to a rubbish bin three years ago, pleaded guilty to infanticide in the High Court on Thursday, as the judge described the case as a tragedy.

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Sarah Jayne Barron, a 34-year-old mother admitted to throwing her newborn baby over the balcony of her flat, resulting in the baby's death. Barron had denied murder, but admitted infanticide during a brief hearing at Bristol Crown Court.

While the exact motive remains unclear, potential factors could include severe mental health issues, emotional distress, or a lack of support and resources.

To prevent such cases, it is crucial to focus on improved mental health support and awareness, support systems for new parents, early intervention and screening, and accessible legal and social services.

https://uk.news.yahoo.com/mother-34-admits-infanticide-after-throwing-newborn-over-her-flats-balcony-125936459.html
- Iman Iskandar

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A mother has admitted killing her newborn baby by throwing him her flat's balcony when she 'had not recovered from the effects of giving birth'.

Sarah Jayne Barron, 34, entered a guilty plea to infanticide during a brief hearing at Bristol Crown Court.

A police investigation was opened in December 2020 when the newborn's body was discovered in a private garden in Weston-super-Mare, Somerset.

Barron had previously denied a charge of murder but admitted the plea of infanticide when she was re-arraigned.

The court was told the offence was committed on 4 December 2020 when Barron "caused the death of your child under 12 months by wilful act by throwing them over the balcony of your flat at the time you had not fully recovered from the effects of giving birth".

Anna Vigars KC, prosecuting, told the court the plea was acceptable to the Crown and a trial will not be necessary.

Charles Row KC, defending Barron, asked for the case to be adjourned for the preparation of psychiatric reports.

Barron, whose current address was withheld by the court, was released on conditional bail until she is sentenced on 14 July.

Judge Peter Blair KC, the Recorder of Bristol, told the defendant: "The prosecution has indicated today your guilty plea to the alternative charge of infanticide is acceptable and therefore the trial listed for 17 July is to be vacated, as is the further case management hearing on 15 June.
Read more from Yahoo News UK: Who is and isn't eligible for cost of living payments? Thieves spark 120mph police chase after fleeing jewellery store with £60k ring Man admits killing 'kind' woman whose body lay undiscovered for weeks
"The sentencing exercise will now be undertaken on 14 July and until then you will be on bail with conditions.

"The fact you have pleaded guilty will enable the judge to give you credit for your guilty plea and it will be for the judge to decide how much you will be given.

"Having read what I have read, I suspect considerable credit will be afforded."

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Mother, 34, admits infanticide after 'throwing newborn over her flat's balcony'

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A mother has admitted killing her newborn baby by throwing him her flat's balcony when she 'had not recovered from the effects of giving birth'. Sarah Jayne Barron, 34, entered a guilty plea to infanticide during a brief hearing at Bristol Crown Court.

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A couple who went to a cemetery to bury their newborn found a baby girl buried alive after their shovel hit a pot as they were digging and they heard cries. The cemetery guard noted that the parents of the baby were there earlier that day. The baby girl was rushed to the hospital but police are looking for the parents to investigate this case of infanticide. A possible motive behind this could be the social stigma around having a girl in India. With females being seen as a burden to the family, female infanticide is common. In order to prevent this, the government has put in bans and laws around who can perform abortions as well as prohibiting the family from finding out the sex before birth.

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Indian laws ban doctors and health workers from sharing an unborn child's sex with the parents, or carrying out tests to determine the child's gender [Rafiq Maqbool/AP]

A baby girl found buried alive in India was a suspected case of female infanticide, police said on Monday, the latest to highlight the preference for sons in a country where the number of girls has been declining.

A couple, who went to bury their newborn at a grave after she died in hospital, discovered the youngster inside an earthen pot buried several feet deep, said a police officer in Bareilly city in northern Uttar Pradesh state.

"Their spade hit the pot and they heard a baby's cries coming from it," the officer told the Thomson Reuters Foundation on the condition of anonymity as he was not authorised to speak to the media.

"They immediately called the cemetery guard, who said that he saw the parents there earlier. It seems to be a case of female infanticide," he said, adding that the baby was about five days old.

The baby was rushed to a nearby hospital, where she is recovering, he said. Police are looking for the parents.

India has seen a dwindling number of girls, according to a government survey released in July, suggesting that illegal abortions of female fetuses continue despite a ban and government efforts to save girl children.

It showed that India's gender ratio, or the number of females per 1,000 males, was 896 in the period of 2015-17, down from 898 in 2014-16 and 900 in 2013-15.

The number was 943 in the last census of 2011.

Indian laws ban doctors and health workers from sharing an unborn child's sex with the parents, or carrying out tests to determine the child's gender. Only registered medical practitioners are allowed to perform abortions.

Yet female feticide is common in parts of India. Daughters are often seen as a burden, with families having to pay dowries when they marry, while sons are prized as breadwinners who can inherit property and continue the family name.

In 2017, police found nearly 20 aborted fetuses dumped in plastic bags in the western state of Maharashtra.

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India: Baby girl found buried alive in suspected infanticide bid

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A baby girl found buried alive in India was a suspected case of female infanticide, police said on Monday, the latest to highlight the preference for sons in a country where the number of girls has been declining.

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Andrea Giesbrecht is a 40-year-old woman who was accused of locking 6 dead babies in a storage locker in Winnipeg. It's unknown the motive of the offender. In order to prevent this, more security in the area, or backround checks could be done.
- Morgan Tahiliani
https://canadiancrc.com/Infanticide-Women_Who_Kill_Their_Babies.aspx

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Canadian Children’s Rights Council - Conseil canadien des droits des enfants

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Infanticide in Canada - mothers who kill their babies

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Infanticide and mothers who kill their children

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Thirty-year-old Khystina Marie Rice secretly gave birth to a healthy baby boy in her residence in October 2019. She inflicted severe injuries, killing the baby. Rice concealed the body in a trash bag hidden in an adjoining closet.

Potential motivation could be that the child was unwanted by Rice or suffered from postpartum psychosis.

Education and awareness and improved access to mental health services. Proper support and resources to help identify and address underlying psychological issues that may contribute to violence. Encouraging women to seek help leads to early intervention and prevention.

-Sasha Weltzin

https://www.qcnews.com/news/indian-trail-woman-sentenced-to-life-without-parole-in-infanticide-case/

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Indian Trail woman sentenced to life without parole in infanticide case

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MONROE, N.C. (QUEEN CITY NEWS) - A Union County jury sentenced a 30-year-old woman who committed infanticide to life without parole on Tuesday. The jury found Indian Land resident Khrystina Marie Rice guilty of first-degree murder and felony intentional child abuse inflicting serious bodily injury.

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Liza Santos, aged 31, strangled her seven-week old son at her home in Calgary, Alberta. She claimed that she thought that she was protecting him from demons. She was charged with second-degree murder but found not criminally responsible due to a mental disorder.
The most likely motive for this violence was postpartum depression, postpartum psychosis and/or postpartum anxiety.

https://canadiancrc.com/Newspaper_Articles/CP_List_of_Infanticide_cases_in_Canada_27SEP06.aspx

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Virtual Library of Newspaper Articles

Canadian Press, Thursday, September 28, 2006

(CP) - Katrina Effert of Wetaskiwin, Alta., has been convicted of second-degree murder for killing her newborn baby boy. Here's what has happened in some other Canadian cases of newborn killing:
Melanie Sheila Murphy, 21: left her baby daughter in garbage bag at the college she was attending in Camrose, Alta. Given suspended sentence in 1998 for infanticide and ordered to perform 75 hours of community service.

Shelley Netter, 26: left her baby daughter in garbage bag on her Edmonton doorstep. Originally charged with infanticide, but received three-year suspended sentence in 1998 after pleading guilty to failing to provide the necessities of life.

Leanne Wise, 27: delivered her baby in a washroom at the Calgary bingo hall where she worked, dumped it in a trash can and then went back to her job. Received 18-month suspended sentence in 2000 for disposing of the dead body with intent to conceal its delivery.

Kelly Lynn Rector, 19: gave birth in a bingo hall washroom in Brantford, Ont., and left the infant in a toilet bowl. Granted absolute discharge after pleading guilty to concealing the body of a newborn.

Liza Santos, 31: strangled her seven-week-old baby at home in Calgary, thinking she was protecting him from demons. Charged with second-degree murder but found not criminally responsible due to mental disorder.

The Canadian Press 2006

The Edmonton Journal
November 12, 2006
A safeguard for women? An insult to women? Canada's infanticide law, like the crime itself, ignites strong emotions on both sides. Just how did the legislation evolve and why do some legal experts want it scrapped?
"You heartless bastards!"

The words rang out in a Wetaskiwin courtroom, Ryan Effert's verbal attack on the eight-woman, four-man jury that had just found his 20-year-old sister, Katrina, guilty of murdering her newborn baby.

Ryan Effert was the first to lash out at the jury, but his angry words have been echoed by many others. Defence lawyers, legal experts, pundits and members of the public have all expressed upset and bewilderment at the decision on Sept. 26. Read More ..

The Calgary Sun
September 25, 2010

For six decades, women who have killed their babies have typically benefited from reduced sentences under our infanticide law because of the belief their minds were disturbed from giving birth.

University of Alberta law professor Sanjeev Anand wonders why only mothers who kill their infants get a break.

Fathers and adoptive parents should have a shot at judicial compassion as well, he argues in a provocative article in the Alberta Law Review.

There is little evidence of a direct connection between the physical effects of childbirth or lactation and the onset of mental disturbances in women, he declares.

Rather, poverty, isolation and other social stresses are more likely causes of the mental illness some women experience after childbirth, Anand argues.

And if mothers are vulnerable to mental breakdowns because of the socio-economic burden of child-rearing, surely fathers and adoptive parents risk the same stress and should also be able to use the defence of infanticide, he says.

"Once the law recognizes biological mothers who kill their children may commit these acts because of the effects of mental disorders caused by social stresses, the law must also acknowledge all parents are susceptible to such influences," Anand writes. Read More ..

One of British medicine's most senior advisers on medical ethics has provoked outrage by claiming that infanticide is "justifiable".

Professor John Harris, a member of the British Medical Association's ethics committee, said that it was not "plausible to think that there is any moral change that occurs during the journey down the birth canal" - suggesting that there was no moral difference between aborting a foetus and killing a baby. Read More ..

Canadian Press, (various newspapers across Canada, including the Toronto Star) Aug. 16, 2006.

ISLE LA MOTTE, Vt. A Montreal mother recovering from alleged self-inflicted wounds will be charged in the coming days with murdering her 8-year-old son, whose body was found in Lake Champlain, a Vermont state attorney said today.

I am going to prepare a charge of first-degree murder, Grand Isle States Attorney David Miller said in a telephone interview. Read More ..

Australian Associated Press
December 05, 2008
A WOMAN who killed her infant son by jumping with him from the eighth floor of a city apartment block has walked free after being convicted of manslaughter.
Yeeda Topham, 40, of Roleystone near Perth, had pleaded guilty in the West Australian Supreme Court to a charge of unlawfully killing 21-month-old James Topham on November 5 last year. Read More ..

Mother Charged with Killing Her Baby
Fire Officials Claim Fire Intentionally Set
NBC4-TV, Los Angeles, California, U.S.A.

LOS ANGELES, USA -- Murder charges are expected to be filed against a woman whose infant son's body was found in a washing machine after firefighters doused what they say was an intentionally set fire, authorities said Tuesday.

Latunga Starks, 32, was taken into custody last night, according to the Sheriff's Department Web site.

Los Angeles Police Department Lt. Dennis Shirey identified the mother and her nearly 3-month-old son, Michael Kelvin Thompson.

The Toronto Star, By Peter Small, Courts Bureau, March 01, 2008

Xuan (Linda) Peng has been found guilty of second-degree murder in the drowning death of her 4-year-old autistic daughter Scarlett in a bathtub in the family home.

A Superior Court jury returned its verdict Saturday morning after two days of deliberations.

Scarlett Chen was discovered unconscious by her distraught father David Chen in the tub on the second floor of the family's townhouse on Rosebank Dr., near Markham Rd. and Sheppard Ave. E. on July 12, 2004.

Peng told police that she had put their daughter down for a nap in the adjoining bedroom, and had no idea she had climbed into the bathtub, which the woman had filled with water to clean some kitchen utensils.

However, seven months later, homicide detectives charged the 36-year-old Chinese immigrant with first-degree murder. The charges were later reduced to second-degree murder. Read More ..

Associated Press, Globe and Mail, Tuesday, May. 13, 2003, Page A15

TYLER, TEX. -- A woman accused of fatally beating two of her sons with rocks spent Mother's Day sobbing and muttering in a jail cell.

Deanna LaJune Laney, 38, remained on suicide watch yesterday at Smith County Jail, where she was held in lieu of a $3-million (U.S.) bond on capital-murder and aggravated-assault charges.

Ms. Laney is accused of killing Joshua Laney, 8, and Luke Laney, 6, and injuring their 14-month-old brother, Aaron. The toddler remained in critical condition yesterday at a Dallas Hospital.

In a call to emergency workers early Saturday, Ms. Laney reported that she had just "bashed their heads in with a rock," Sheriff J. B. Smith said. Read More ..

Zachary Turner, a 13 months old baby, died at the hands of his fugitive mother, Dr. Shirley Turner, who killed him and then committed suicide on August 18, 2003.

Turner was facing extradition to the United States to stand trial for the 2001 murder of Dr. Andrew Bagby, Zachary's father.

28-year-old Dr. Andrew Bagby was found shot to death in Keystone State Park, 55 kilometres northeast of Pittsburgh, PA, U.S.A.

Turner fled to Newfoundland, Canada where Zachary was born. She was out on bail against the wishes of U.S. authorities at the time of Zachary's death. Read More ..

Canada's largest national newspaper

The Globe and Mail
October 6, 2006

Toronto - As a female friend of Frances Elaine Campione put it, this after Ms. Campione was charged on Wednesday with murder in the death of her two young children, "That mother needs a hug."

In that line, widely repeated in Toronto and national media outlets, is a telling clue to what is so wrong with much of what happens both in the nation's family courts and in its child-protection system -- the pervasive view of the female of the species as constantly nurturing (except, you know, when she allegedly kills) and as in need of constant nurture (hugs all 'round, no matter what).

For the record, Ms. Campione was arrested two days ago after she phoned 911 to report that there were two dead children inside her Barrie, Ont., apartment, and shortly after, didn't police arrive to find the bodies of her own little girls, one-year-old Sophia and three-year-old Serena.

She and her estranged husband Leo were reportedly in the throes of a nasty custody battle, with Mr. Campione accused of assaulting his wife and the older child, and Ms. Campione allegedly alarmed, and/or depressed, at the prospect of losing that fight.

And The Globe has confirmed that involved with the family was the Children's Aid Society of Simcoe County. At the moment, the nature of that involvement is unknown -- except as it has been reported by neighbours who saw social workers at the apartment and say that, for a time recently, the girls lived with their paternal grandparents.

Mothers Who Kill Their Children

Canadian Press
Wednesday, May. 22, 2002

KINGSTON, Ont. (CP) -- An Ontario woman who was sentenced to 16 years in prison in one of Canada's stiffest penalties for child abuse will be released on full parole after serving less than half her term.

Lorelei Turner, 38, and her husband Steven were convicted of manslaughter in July 1995 for beating and starving their three-year-old son John to death in a case that horrified Canadians who followed the trial.

But on Wednesday, a panel of the National Parole Board in this eastern Ontario city ruled Turner will be released but placed on probation until July 2011.

Until then, she must remain within 25 kilometres of her residence, is not allowed unsupervised contact with anyone under 16, and must continue to receive counselling.

"The board would have looked at the risk and obviously found a low risk to reoffend," Carol Sparling of the National Parole Board said Wednesday.

Jillian McCabe is seen in an undated photo provided by the Newport, Ore., Police Department. (Newport, Ore., Police Department)

The Associated Press, U.S.A., November 4, 2014

NEWPORT, Ore. -- A woman who said she threw her 6-year-old son off a historic bridge on the Oregon coast was arrested after the boy's body was found in the bay, police said.

Police and firefighters in the coastal city of Newport, Lincoln County deputies and the Coast Guard searched the bay with boats and a helicopter after Jillian Meredith McCabe, 34, of Seal Rock called 911 at 6:25 p.m. Monday to report throwing her son off the Yaquina Bay Bridge.

The boy's body was found at 10:23 p.m. in the bay after it was spotted near the Embarcadero Resort, police said.

Mothers Who Kill Their Own Children
Days after buying another woman Valentine's Day flowers, a Sydney father came home to find a trail of blood leading him to the bodies of his two young children lying next to their mother, a court has been told.
Australian Associated Press
Aug 24 2009

The woman had given the couple's three-year-old daughter and four-year-old son rat poison and an unidentified pink liquid before smothering them and killing them, court papers said.

She then tried to take her own life, the NSW Supreme Court was told.

Doctors agree the mother, from Canley Heights in Sydney's west, was suffering from "major depression" when she poisoned her children on February 19 last year.

She has pleaded not guilty to the two murders by reason of mental illness.

As her judge-alone trial began, the mother's lawyer told Justice Clifton Hoeben his client didn't think life was worth living after learning about her husband's affair.

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Canadian Children's Rights Council - Conseil canadien des droits des enfants

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Donate About Us Virtual Library of Newspaper Articles Canadian Press, Thursday, September 28, 2006 (CP) - Katrina Effert of Wetaskiwin, Alta., has been convicted of second-degree murder for killing her newborn baby boy. Here's what has happened in some other Canadian cases of newborn killing: Melanie Sheila Murphy, 21: left her baby daughter in garbage bag at the college she was attending in Camrose, Alta.

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40-year-old Andrea Giesbrecht was charged with six counts of concealing the body of a child after police found six babies hidden in a U-Haul locker in 2014.

There was no known motive for her crimes, but since she didn't have any relation to the victims or their families, it's safe to assume it was some sort of mental illness that caused these crimes.

Since the bodies of the children were found much later after the crimes were committed, there was not much anyone could do to prevent this situation unless they knew it was going to happen beforehand.

- Brennan F.

https://canadiancrc.com/Andrea_Giesbrecht_AKA_Andrea_Naworynski_40_Winnipeg_Woman_Arrested_6_Dead_Babies_Killer_Criminal_Winnipeg.aspx

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Virtual Library of Newspaper Articles

Winnipeg Sun, by David Larkins, Wednesday, October 22, 2014

WINNIPEG - Winnipeg police now say the bodies of six babies were found in a U-Haul locker Monday afternoon and have made an arrest in connection to the horrifying incident.

Police provided an update Wednesday morning and said it was not three or four infant bodies as originally thought that were found in the storage locker.

Andrea Giesbrecht, 40, of Winnipeg, who police say also goes by Andrea Naworynski, has been charged with six counts of concealing the body of a child and one breach of probation. She was arrested at a home, police said.

The offences are alleged to have occurred between March 7 and Oct. 20.

Police spokesman Const. Eric Hofley could not provide much more detail on how the babies were killed, why they were there, or what their relation is to the accused.

Hofley said the case has not been turned over to the homicide unit because more details still need to come to light on many lingering questions.

Hofley said homicide charges have not been laid, but have not been ruled out.

"So many of the questions that I expect you have will be answered forensically," Hofley said. "As you can see by the charges laid, right now we don't have any information regarding a homicide."

Hofley said the child abuse unit is still investigating, but acknowledged finding the answers may prove difficult.

"It's early in the investigation ... some of these questions may never be answered," he said.

Court documents show Giesbrecht was convicted of fraud Sept. 30 and sentenced to two years supervised probation.

Court heard Giesbrecht approached a 73-year-old woman, a neighbour of her deceased parents, and asked for a loan to pay off the taxes on the family home.

Over the course of four visits, the woman paid Giesbrecht a total of $7,850.

"My husband warned me not to (loan her the money) but she always came by when she knew he wasn't home," the woman wrote in a victim impact statement.

Giesbrecht wrote the victim two cheques to satisfy the loan, both of which were drawn on a closed account.

Giesbrecht's fraud was motivated by a long-standing gambling addiction, court was told.

As of her sentencing date, Giesbrecht had made no effort to repay the victim, Crown attorney Manoja Moorthy said.

"It's simply unacceptable to say that all of this is to be blamed on an addiction," Moorthy said. "She is 40 years old. She certainly knows the impact this has had on the victim."

Defence lawyer Allan Libman said Giesbrecht's parents lost all their savings to gambling.

Canadian Press, (various newspapers across Canada, including the Toronto Star) Aug. 16, 2006.

ISLE LA MOTTE, Vt. A Montreal mother recovering from alleged self-inflicted wounds will be charged in the coming days with murdering her 8-year-old son, whose body was found in Lake Champlain, a Vermont state attorney said today.

I am going to prepare a charge of first-degree murder, Grand Isle States Attorney David Miller said in a telephone interview. Read More ..

Australian Associated Press
December 05, 2008
A WOMAN who killed her infant son by jumping with him from the eighth floor of a city apartment block has walked free after being convicted of manslaughter.
Yeeda Topham, 40, of Roleystone near Perth, had pleaded guilty in the West Australian Supreme Court to a charge of unlawfully killing 21-month-old James Topham on November 5 last year. Read More ..

Mother Charged with Killing Her Baby
Fire Officials Claim Fire Intentionally Set
NBC4-TV, Los Angeles, California, U.S.A.

LOS ANGELES, USA -- Murder charges are expected to be filed against a woman whose infant son's body was found in a washing machine after firefighters doused what they say was an intentionally set fire, authorities said Tuesday.

Latunga Starks, 32, was taken into custody last night, according to the Sheriff's Department Web site.

Los Angeles Police Department Lt. Dennis Shirey identified the mother and her nearly 3-month-old son, Michael Kelvin Thompson.

The Toronto Star, By Peter Small, Courts Bureau, March 01, 2008

Xuan (Linda) Peng has been found guilty of second-degree murder in the drowning death of her 4-year-old autistic daughter Scarlett in a bathtub in the family home.

A Superior Court jury returned its verdict Saturday morning after two days of deliberations.

Scarlett Chen was discovered unconscious by her distraught father David Chen in the tub on the second floor of the family's townhouse on Rosebank Dr., near Markham Rd. and Sheppard Ave. E. on July 12, 2004.

Peng told police that she had put their daughter down for a nap in the adjoining bedroom, and had no idea she had climbed into the bathtub, which the woman had filled with water to clean some kitchen utensils.

However, seven months later, homicide detectives charged the 36-year-old Chinese immigrant with first-degree murder. The charges were later reduced to second-degree murder. Read More ..

Associated Press, Globe and Mail, Tuesday, May. 13, 2003, Page A15

TYLER, TEX. -- A woman accused of fatally beating two of her sons with rocks spent Mother's Day sobbing and muttering in a jail cell.

Deanna LaJune Laney, 38, remained on suicide watch yesterday at Smith County Jail, where she was held in lieu of a $3-million (U.S.) bond on capital-murder and aggravated-assault charges.

Ms. Laney is accused of killing Joshua Laney, 8, and Luke Laney, 6, and injuring their 14-month-old brother, Aaron. The toddler remained in critical condition yesterday at a Dallas Hospital.

In a call to emergency workers early Saturday, Ms. Laney reported that she had just "bashed their heads in with a rock," Sheriff J. B. Smith said. Read More ..

Zachary Turner, a 13 months old baby, died at the hands of his fugitive mother, Dr. Shirley Turner, who killed him and then committed suicide on August 18, 2003.

Turner was facing extradition to the United States to stand trial for the 2001 murder of Dr. Andrew Bagby, Zachary's father.

28-year-old Dr. Andrew Bagby was found shot to death in Keystone State Park, 55 kilometres northeast of Pittsburgh, PA, U.S.A.

Turner fled to Newfoundland, Canada where Zachary was born. She was out on bail against the wishes of U.S. authorities at the time of Zachary's death. Read More ..

Canada's largest national newspaper

The Globe and Mail
October 6, 2006

Toronto - As a female friend of Frances Elaine Campione put it, this after Ms. Campione was charged on Wednesday with murder in the death of her two young children, "That mother needs a hug."

In that line, widely repeated in Toronto and national media outlets, is a telling clue to what is so wrong with much of what happens both in the nation's family courts and in its child-protection system -- the pervasive view of the female of the species as constantly nurturing (except, you know, when she allegedly kills) and as in need of constant nurture (hugs all 'round, no matter what).

For the record, Ms. Campione was arrested two days ago after she phoned 911 to report that there were two dead children inside her Barrie, Ont., apartment, and shortly after, didn't police arrive to find the bodies of her own little girls, one-year-old Sophia and three-year-old Serena.

She and her estranged husband Leo were reportedly in the throes of a nasty custody battle, with Mr. Campione accused of assaulting his wife and the older child, and Ms. Campione allegedly alarmed, and/or depressed, at the prospect of losing that fight.

And The Globe has confirmed that involved with the family was the Children's Aid Society of Simcoe County. At the moment, the nature of that involvement is unknown -- except as it has been reported by neighbours who saw social workers at the apartment and say that, for a time recently, the girls lived with their paternal grandparents.

Mothers Who Kill Their Children

Canadian Press
Wednesday, May. 22, 2002

KINGSTON, Ont. (CP) -- An Ontario woman who was sentenced to 16 years in prison in one of Canada's stiffest penalties for child abuse will be released on full parole after serving less than half her term.

Lorelei Turner, 38, and her husband Steven were convicted of manslaughter in July 1995 for beating and starving their three-year-old son John to death in a case that horrified Canadians who followed the trial.

But on Wednesday, a panel of the National Parole Board in this eastern Ontario city ruled Turner will be released but placed on probation until July 2011.

Until then, she must remain within 25 kilometres of her residence, is not allowed unsupervised contact with anyone under 16, and must continue to receive counselling.

"The board would have looked at the risk and obviously found a low risk to reoffend," Carol Sparling of the National Parole Board said Wednesday.

Jillian McCabe is seen in an undated photo provided by the Newport, Ore., Police Department. (Newport, Ore., Police Department)

The Associated Press, U.S.A., November 4, 2014

NEWPORT, Ore. -- A woman who said she threw her 6-year-old son off a historic bridge on the Oregon coast was arrested after the boy's body was found in the bay, police said.

Police and firefighters in the coastal city of Newport, Lincoln County deputies and the Coast Guard searched the bay with boats and a helicopter after Jillian Meredith McCabe, 34, of Seal Rock called 911 at 6:25 p.m. Monday to report throwing her son off the Yaquina Bay Bridge.

The boy's body was found at 10:23 p.m. in the bay after it was spotted near the Embarcadero Resort, police said.

Mothers Who Kill Their Own Children
Days after buying another woman Valentine's Day flowers, a Sydney father came home to find a trail of blood leading him to the bodies of his two young children lying next to their mother, a court has been told.
Australian Associated Press
Aug 24 2009

The woman had given the couple's three-year-old daughter and four-year-old son rat poison and an unidentified pink liquid before smothering them and killing them, court papers said.

She then tried to take her own life, the NSW Supreme Court was told.

Doctors agree the mother, from Canley Heights in Sydney's west, was suffering from "major depression" when she poisoned her children on February 19 last year.

She has pleaded not guilty to the two murders by reason of mental illness.

As her judge-alone trial began, the mother's lawyer told Justice Clifton Hoeben his client didn't think life was worth living after learning about her husband's affair.

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Canadian Children's Rights Council - Conseil canadien des droits des enfants

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Donate About Us Virtual Library of Newspaper Articles Winnipeg Sun, by David Larkins, Wednesday, October 22, 2014 WINNIPEG - Winnipeg police now say the bodies of six babies were found in a U-Haul locker Monday afternoon and have made an arrest in connection to the horrifying incident.

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Alberta woman Katrina Effert was convicted of strangling her newborn son after secretly giving birth at her parents' house. Trial experts argued that her mind had been disturbed at the time of the murder. She was found guilty of second-degree murder and sentenced to life with no parole for at least 10 years, which has since been overturned. The conviction of second-degree murder was replaced with infanticide, for which she received no sentence. Due to the overturning, she spent 16 days in prison in connection with improper disposal of a body.

I think her motive was simply that it was an unwanted pregnancy. It's possible that she didn't have any supports in her life that were pro-choice, and she may have felt that she couldn't get an abortion.

https://canadiancrc.com/newspaper_articles/CP_Accused_baby_killer_revered_20SEP06.aspx

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Sharron's neighbours became suspicious of her due to the fact that they had been pregnant three times yet seems to have no children of her own. The police raided her home and found the skeletal remains of 3 infants buried around her property and in a shed.
Rayner plead guilty to the charges. After reading through a few articles I can see little mention of financial or moral support from her family or a partner and this could have been a part of the reason for Rayners crimes. With no help Rayner could have felt hopeless or detached from her babies and very well could have been struggling from PPD
-Maddie G.

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Shannon Rayner sentenced to 6 years for infanticide | CBC News

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A Charlottetown woman convicted of infanticide for killing three of her newborn babies was sentenced Monday to six years in prison.

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Moar killed her new born baby and where it was found in a dumpster. She struggled with addictions, homelessness, and fetal alcohol spectrum disorder. These factors and a lack of support from others could have been a motive. If there was better resourses for mothers to turn too this may have been avoided
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/jeanene-rosa-moar-infanticide-manslaughter-experts-1.6485231

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An expert on mothers who kill their newborns says she was dismayed to see a Winnipeg woman charged with manslaughter this week in the death of her infant daughter.

Kirsten Kramar, a sociology instructor at the University of Calgary, said the charges laid against Jeanene Rosa Moar fit into a puzzling pattern of how Canadian prosecutors approach the rare crime of infanticide.

Moar was charged with manslaughter after police said the body of her newborn daughter was discovered in a Winnipeg garbage bin last month. She was also charged with concealing the body of a child.

Kramar said her frustration stems from the fact that in Canada, there's another charge meant to specifically address those kinds of situations: infanticide.

The Criminal Code defines the offence as a wilful act or omission by a mother that causes the death of her newborn, if at the time she "is not fully recovered from the effects of giving birth ... or of the effect of lactation."

While a manslaughter conviction can carry up to a life sentence in prison, the maximum punishment for infanticide is five years, Kramar said.

"We need to be thinking about solutions other than prosecution and incarceration, particularly for women like this," said Kramar, who wrote the book Unwilling Mothers, Unwanted Babies: Infanticide in Canada.

"They think that if they use the harsher punishment framework, that they're somehow going to be deterring other women from committing these kinds of crimes."

But that shows a lack of understanding about the conditions that lead to the exceedingly rare crime of infanticide, she said.

Root causes

Mothers convicted of killing their newborns often had little or no support during their pregnancies, said Katreena Scott, academic director for the Centre for Research and Education on Violence Against Women and Children at Western University.

Similar cases also often involve domestic violence or mental illness, Scott said.

Moar, whose arrest was announced Wednesday, has struggled with addictions, homelessness and fetal alcohol spectrum disorder, a court was told during a 2018 sentencing hearing for the now 31-year-old.

Court also heard she had a "fairly good" though transient upbringing, until her mother's boyfriend kicked her out of their house when she was 18. That same boyfriend had also been "emotionally and/or sexually harassing" her, court heard.

Solutions that can address the root causes of infanticide depend on the circumstances in each case, Kramar said. They can include things like making sure women have appropriate supports throughout their pregnancy, and access to birth control and abortion.

Canada's infanticide law is also meant to draw attention to the social circumstances surrounding women who find themselves "with unwanted babies and no options," said Kramar.

"It's not as though we're just dismissing the fact that there was a baby that was killed.... But we're also turning our minds to the various different issues that are [at] play when it comes to mothers who find themselves with unwanted pregnancies," she said.

"If we use this harsh punishment framework, then we can tell ourselves we're doing something, when in fact, you're not really doing anything at all except ... handing out a punitive measure to a woman who's already obviously living in straitened circumstances."

Precedent in Canada

Kramar said the trend of prosecutors laying more serious charges against women who kill their infants includes the case of Meredith Borowiec.

The Calgary woman was charged with second-degree murder after she told police she left three of her newborns in dumpsters.

Borowiec ended up instead convicted on two counts of infanticide - a conviction the Supreme Court of Canada upheld in 2016, marking the first time it examined the infanticide law.

That's part of why Kramar said she's puzzled that Moar stands accused of manslaughter instead of infanticide.

"It's not in the public interest. If the case goes to trial ... valuable public resources will be put to use," she said.

"And in the end, the result would likely be the same if they had charged infanticide or were able to negotiate a plea arrangement."

In Borowiec's case, Crown attorneys had argued the wording of Canada's infanticide law is vague, outdated and leaves too much room for new mothers to kill their babies, regardless of moral culpability.

But the top court's unanimous decision to uphold Borowiec's infanticide convictions and preserve the law as it stood set a precedent, said D. Scharie Tavcer, an associate professor in the criminal justice program at Mount Royal University.

Tavcer said securing a manslaughter conviction instead of one for infanticide still requires prosecutors to prove both the criminal intent and action needed for that charge.

"I don't know what the investigators know" in Moar's case, she said.

But a manslaughter conviction would require proving "some type of criminal intent, criminal mind - the mens rea - in the heat of passion, a sudden provocation, versus the infanticide, where mom is unwell."

Winnipeg police said this week the decision to lay the manslaughter charge against Moar was made in consultation with Crown prosecutors.

When asked about the charges on Friday, a spokesperson for the Manitoba Prosecution Service said in an email it reviews "the evidence and circumstances of each case and determine[s] which charges properly reflect what has occurred."

Kramar says cases like the one unfolding in Winnipeg show just how much progress still needs to be made to address the types of situations that lead to infanticide.

"These kinds of cases are a bit like the canary in the coal mine," she said.

"When our weakest and most vulnerable members of society end up committing these kinds of offences, it says a lot more about society than it does about the individuals themselves."

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Infanticide expert puzzled to see Winnipeg mother charged with manslaughter in newborn's death | CBC News

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An expert on mothers who kill their newborns says she was dismayed to see a Winnipeg woman charged with manslaughter this week in the death of her infant daughter. Kirsten Kramar, a sociology instructor at the University of Calgary, said the charges laid against Jeanene Rosa Moar fit into a puzzling pattern of how Canadian prosecutors approach the rare crime of infanticide.

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In October 2019, a baby was found dead by the father and by responding paramedics, suffering a hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy due to suffocation. Khyrstina Marie Rice, the child's mother, was found guilty of her baby when she intentionally inflicts pain and injuries on the newborn baby. The injuries include several rib fractures, severe face contusions, and a fractured skull. Rice tried to cover the deceased baby's body with a thick fleece blanket before putting him in a trash bag that she tied up and hid in a nearby closet. Her husband was not aware that his wife delivered the baby, and Rice even tried to deny that she gave birth to the baby.

https://www.qcnews.com/news/indian-trail-woman-sentenced-to-life-without-parole-in-infanticide-case/

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Indian Trail woman sentenced to life without parole in infanticide case

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MONROE, N.C. (QUEEN CITY NEWS) - A Union County jury sentenced a 30-year-old woman who committed infanticide to life without parole on Tuesday. The jury found Indian Land resident Khrystina Marie Rice guilty of first-degree murder and felony intentional child abuse inflicting serious bodily injury.

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Melissa Arbuckle suffers severe postpartum depression. She pleaded guilty to one count of infanticide over her daughter's death at a train station on July 11th, 2021.  20 minutes after calling her husband that they'll be home soon, Arbuckle laid her daughter in the path of an oncoming train in Melbourne East, before she tried to lay down herself. The train hit them both.

The motive in this case was Arbuckle's undiagnosed mental illness at the time of the accident. It was only after the incident that she was diagnosed with postpartum depression and postpartum psychosis.

In infanticide cases, the causes are usually mental illnesses and psychological disorders. Thus, to prevent or to decrease the number of infanticide cases, it's crucial for new mothers to have access to mental health resources after her birth, even though they seem completely contempt with the birth to ensure that the mothers aren't suffering from any postpartum disorders.

https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2022/apr/07/melbourne-woman-avoids-jail-for-killing-baby-by-laying-her-on-railway-tracks

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A Melbourne mother who was suffering severe postpartum depression when she killed her three-month-old daughter by placing her in front of a train has been spared jail.

Melissa Arbuckle, 32, pleaded guilty to one count of infanticide over her daughter Lily's death at a train station in Upwey, in Melbourne's east, on 11 July last year.

Arbuckle had laid beside her daughter on the tracks but survived the accident with fractures and internal bleeding.

She was later diagnosed with postpartum depression and psychosis, including auditory hallucinations. Lily's father, who has requested not to be named, told the court he loved his daughter more than life itself and had struggled to find light in his life since the incident.

Justice Jane Dixon told the Victorian supreme court she believed it was "extremely unlikely" Arbuckle would re-offend and released her on an adjourned undertaking for three years. This allows her to live unsupervised in the community, but will require future appearances before court to ensure she is compliant.

"The facts of this case plainly reveal extenuating circumstances, and your character and sensible cooperation with treatment and supervision are already in evidence," Dixon said.

"The fact that the severity of your postpartum depression was overlooked is an unfortunate feature that this case has in common with certain other cases of infanticide."

Dixon noted Arbuckle's "bright prospects" for rehabilitation were not challenged by the prosecution.

The court heard Arbuckle's's postpartum depression, suicidal ideations and psychosis had subsided after medication and psychiatric community-based treatment. Dixon told the court Arbuckle's psychologist believed imprisonment would have a "significant and detrimental" impact on her mental health.

Dixon said that when considering an appropriate sentence, she had taken into account the victim impact statements of Lily's father, her great-aunt and the train driver who activated the emergency brakes and shut his eyes before impact. The driver said the incident had changed his life, with police sirens and baby noises now triggering severe distress.

The court heard this week that Arbuckle, who was on bail awaiting sentencing, had a "significantly disturbed mind" at the time of the incident.

Her defence barrister, Megan Tittensor SC, said the new mother - who had a perfectionist personality - mistakenly believed Lily was suffering from shaken baby syndrome and that it was inevitable she would die. The court heard she had a "fixated delusional belief" she had harmed her child and they were both broken.

Arbuckle, a well respected vet, took her daughter for a walk in a pram before she began searching for train speeds and timetables on her mobile. Just after 5pm she was seen holding her daughter and using her arm to wave at the passing train.

Minutes later, she placed Lily on the train tracks on the Belgrave line and laid down beside her. Lily died after being airlifted to hospital.

Tittensor said Arbuckle did not plan on having another child and suffers immense remorse for the loss of her daughter.

Clinical psychologist and the chief executive of Perinatal Anxiety & Depression Australia (PANDA), Julie Borninkhof, said there was no "simplified link" between depression and postnatal psychosis.

"It's a trajectory that is a very unique one and impacted by many things," Borninkhof said.

She said people's experiences of postnatal psychosis can be impacted by a specific trigger.

"Often a worrying thought or experience or exposure to something leads to a hyper-vigilance which is where the individual's fixation or deluded thoughts or behaviour stems from."

Sign up to receive the top stories from Guardian Australia every morning

According to PANDA, 15% to 22% of mothers experience some form of anxiety or depression during the perinatal period - during pregnancy and up to one year into their child's life. About 10% of fathers experience the same conditions.

Between 0.1% and 0.2% of mothers experience postnatal psychosis, according to a 2017 study in BMC Psychiatry. Symptoms include sudden and dramatic changes in a person's thinking, behaviour, mood and sleep patterns, and normally emerge in the first four weeks after birth.

In Victoria, infanticide carries a maximum sentence of five years' imprisonment and serves as an alternative to murder. At the time of the conduct, the accused's balance of mind must be deemed disturbed by the effect of giving birth or a disorder consequent of her giving birth to the child.

Victoria, Tasmania and New South Wales are the only jurisdictions in Australia that recognise it is a separate offence.

In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline is 13 11 14. The PANDA national helpline is 1300 726 306. In the US, the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is 1-800-273-8255. In the UK, Samaritans can be contacted on 116 123.Other international suicide helplines can be found at befrienders.org

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Melbourne woman avoids jail for killing baby by laying her on railway tracks

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A Melbourne mother who was suffering severe postpartum depression when she killed her three-month-old daughter by placing her in front of a train has been spared jail. Melissa Arbuckle, 32, pleaded guilty to one count of infanticide over her daughter Lily's death at a train station in Upwey, in Melbourne's east, on 11 July last year.

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In 2004, involving a woman named Dena Schlosser from Texas. She was found by police in her home after she had fatally injured her 11-month-old daughter. She was reportedly suffering from postpartum psychosis, a severe form of mental illness that can occur after childbirth.

The motive in this case was likely the severe mental illness that Dena Schlosser was experiencing, which can cause hallucinations, delusions, and a disconnect from reality.
I think providing new mothers with access to mental health resources and encouraging them to seek help if they are struggling is very important. Additionally, healthcare providers should be vigilant in screening for postpartum mental health disorders and providing appropriate intervention when necessary.
Caroline Mao
https://allthatsinteresting.com/dena-schlosser

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Dena Schlosser of Plano, Texas chopped off her daughter Margaret's arms with a kitchen knife on November 22, 2004, while suffering from postpartum psychosis.

Dena Schlosser overcame tremendous odds from childhood to lead a normal life. But a deadly combination of postpartum depression and religious fervor would end her dream of normalcy in a single horrifying moment.

In November 2004, Schlosser took a kitchen knife and cut off the arms of her 11-month-old daughter, Margaret Schlosser. The infant later died from her injuries, and her mother was charged with murder.

And that was just the beginning of what would turn out to be a case full of shocking twists and turns.

Dena Schlosser's Early Life

Born in 1969 in upstate New York, Dena Leitner suffered trauma at an early age. When she was 8 years old, she was diagnosed with hydrocephalus, a disease that comes from excess cerebrospinal fluid building up in the brain. If left untreated, hydrocephalus can interfere with brain function, and eventually lead to death.

In total, Leitner underwent eight surgeries to implant shunts into her brain, heart, and abdomen before she was 13 years old. Although she survived the surgeries without any major injuries, the surgeries required Leitner to shave her head, which led to merciless bullying from her classmates.

Nevertheless, she persisted and went on to study at Marist College, where she ultimately earned her bachelor's degree in psychology. While at Marist, she met John Schlosser, who ultimately took his future in-laws' tuition money, skipped school, and never earned a degree.

Inauspicious start aside, John and Dena Schlosser eventually wed, had two daughters, and moved to Fort Worth, Texas, where John began a thriving business in the fledgling computer science industry. However, things were far from idyllic for the couple. John refused to allow Dena to go to work, and they eventually began attending a fundamentalist church called the Water of Life run by a man named Doyle Davidson, a veterinarian-turned-preacher who claimed that God spoke to him in visions.

But as the couple began getting more involved in the Water of Life, things took a turn for the worse in their home life.

The Horrifying Murder Of Margaret Schlosser

John and Dena Schlosser were enjoying a relatively normal life before they began attending the Water of Life Church. Because John was desperate to get a better paying job, he quit his lucrative position to begin " consulting. " The gigs quickly began drying up, and the couple could no longer afford to keep their home in Fort Worth. After their home went into foreclosure, the couple packed up their small family and moved 120 miles away to Plano, Texas, to be closer to the church.

To make matters worse, Dena Schlosser had suffered three miscarriages prior to having her two children, and the birth of Margaret in 2003 sent her into a deep postpartum depression. Published reports later revealed that the day after Margaret was born, Dena attempted suicide. She was then hospitalized in a psychiatric ward, where she was diagnosed with bipolar disorder with psychotic features.

The year before, Dena was investigated by Texas Child Protective Services (CPS) after she'd had a psychotic episode, and she was ordered not to be alone with her children. But John Schlosser refused to get her any sort of psychological help, claiming that the church teachings forbade it. The night before the murder, John Schlosser beat his wife viciously with a wooden spoon in front of their children after she claimed that she " wanted to give her child to Doyle. "

On Nov. 22, 2004, Schlosser claimed, she saw a news story about a lion mauling a young boy and took it as a sign of the impending apocalypse. She then claimed she heard God's voice command her to cut off Margaret's arms, and then her own, in tribute.

"She felt she was basically commanded, in essence, to cut [Margaret Schlosser's] arms off and her own arms off, and her legs and her head, and in some way to give them to God," said David Self, a psychiatrist who evaluated Schlosser in the months after her arrest, and who eventually determined she'd suffered from postpartum psychosis.

Shortly after she'd committed the crime, police found Dena Schlosser in her living room, covered in blood, a deep gash in her shoulder and her baby's arms severed. As they led her away, Schlosser was humming a Christian hymn and saying, "Thank you, Jesus. Thank you, Lord."

Dena Schlosser Is Found Not Guilty By Reason Of Insanity

During the Dena Schlosser trial, things only got stranger. Doyle Davidson testified at the trial and claimed that he felt all mental illness was "Satanic" in nature. For that reason, he said, his devoted followers - including the Schlossers - were discouraged from taking anti-psychotic medication to counteract the symptoms of their illness.

"I do not believe that any mental illness exists other than demons, and no medication can straighten it out, other than the power of God," he said on the stand.

What's more, it was revealed that Dena Schlosser was on anti-psychotic medication for years prior to attending the Water of Life Church, but was quickly taken off the drugs by her husband when they started getting more involved in the church.

Subsequently, John Schlosser filed for divorce from Dena, and filed for - and ultimately obtained - custody of their surviving daughters, who were unharmed in the attack. However, before he could regain custody, John Schlosser had to commit to allowing a family member to live in the home with him and the children, as the Texas CPS felt that he didn't do enough to protect his children from his clearly disturbed wife. As part of their divorce agreement, Dena Schlosser was prohibited from having contact with John or their daughters again.

Dena Schlosser was found not guilty by reason of insanity, and she was immediately committed to a psychiatric facility. While in the facility, she befriended none other than Andrea Yates - the Texas woman who murdered her five children - and they struck up a friendship.

"She is almost my identical personality," said Dena Schlosser. "I think we'll be friends forever. I've only known her for a short period of time, but I believe the feeling is mutual. She probably thinks that same thing."

In 2008, Dena Schlosser was released to an outpatient facility. She was ordered to be on birth control, take her antipsychotic medications, see a therapist, and not have any unsupervised contact with children. However, she was recommitted to an in-patient facility in 2010, after neighbors found her wandering around in the early hours of the morning, dazed and confused.

In 2012, Dena Schlosser - using her maiden name, Dena Leitner - was discovered working at a Walmart in Plano, Texas. When the news media discovered her whereabouts, it became a sensation. Within hours of the report airing, she was fired.

As of December 2020, Dena Schlosser was ordered to remain committed to a state hospital. Judge Andrea Thompson confirmed that she has "religious delusions" when she's not on anti-psychotic medication and that it's better for all involved if she remains in the state of Texas's round-the-clock care.
Now that you've read all about the horrifying true story of Dena Schlosser, read all about Leonarda Cianciulli, an Italian serial killer who turned her victims into soap and pastries. Then, read all about Mary Bell, a 10-year-old girl who killed two little boys in cold blood - and never explained why.

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The Story Of The Texas Mom Who Chopped Off Her Baby's Arms Because She Said God Told Her To

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Dena Schlosser overcame tremendous odds from childhood to lead a normal life. But a deadly combination of postpartum depression and religious fervor would end her dream of normalcy in a single horrifying moment. In November 2004, Schlosser took a kitchen knife and cut off the arms of her 11-month-old daughter, Margaret Schlosser.

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Barron pled guilty to killing a newborn after it was found in a garden. She threw her baby off the balcony of her apartment. The report notes that she hadn't recovered from the toll of giving birth. The baby was reported to only be hours old.

I think she likely experienced a type of delirium as well as having an unwanted baby since the way she committed infanticide was rather violent and non-discrete.
https://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/1768276/mum-admits-killing-baby-somerset

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A mother has admitted to killing her newborn baby by "throwing them over the balcony" of their flat. Sarah Jayne Barron, 34, has pleaded guilty to infanticide, which also acts as a partial defence against the murder charge she previously denied. The case will now not go to trial and has been adjourned for the preparation of psychiatric reports. The maximum penalty for infanticide is life imprisonment, but usually a non-custodial sentence is the outcome.

A police investigation was opened in 2020 after Barron's newborn's body was discovered in a private garden in Weston-super-Mare, Somerset, on December 12 of that year.

Barron had previously denied a charge of murder but admitted the plea of infanticide when she was re-arraigned. In cases where infanticide is claimed by a defendant, the burden of proof for prosecutors who have alleged murder is to disprove the claim of infanticide beyond a reasonable doubt.

The court was told the offence was committed on December 4 2020 when Barron "caused the death of your child under 12 months by wilful act by throwing them over the balcony of your flat at the time you had not fully recovered from the effects of giving birth".

Anna Vigars KC, prosecuting, told the court the plea was acceptable to the Crown and a trial will not be necessary. Charles Row KC, defending Barron, asked for the case to be adjourned to prepare the psychiatric reports.

Barron, whose current address was withheld by the court, was released on conditional bail until she is sentenced on July 14.

Judge Peter Blair KC, the Recorder of Bristol, told the defendant: "The prosecution has indicated today your guilty plea to the alternative charge of infanticide is acceptable and therefore the trial listed for July 17 is to be vacated, as is the further case management hearing on June 15.

"The sentencing exercise will now be undertaken on July 14 and until then you will be on bail with conditions.

"The fact you have pleaded guilty will enable the judge to give you credit for your guilty plea and it will be for the judge to decide how much you will be given.

"Having read what I have read, I suspect considerable credit will be afforded."
READ MORE: Killer mum could be released just five years after drowning twins [REVEAL]
While the maximum penalty for infanticide, defined as the deliberate killing of a baby under one years old by their own mother, is life imprisonment, it is rare for a woman facing this charge to receive any form of custodial sentence.

A study published in the British Journal of Midwifery in 2015 said that in the previous 10 years not one of the 59 cases of infanticide had resulted in a custodial sentence.

The charge, enacted into law by the Infanticide Act 1922, carries with it the defence that the woman in question suffered from a disturbed balance of mind as a result of giving birth when she committed the killing.

It acts as a significant partial defence to murder, so long as the incident happened within a year of childbirth.
DON'T MISS: Mum and dad guilty after beating baby son to death on Christmas Day [REPORT]
Married At First Sight star's tragic news hours after baby arrival [REVEAL]
Mum tells of heartbreak after baby dies at just three days old [INSIGHT]
Between 1995 and 2002, there were 298 cases of infanticide in England and Wales, according to a study published in the Journal of Interpersonal Violence .

The annual rate of infant homicide - 45 per million - has remained reasonably constant since the Homicide Act 1957.

In England and Wales there were 2,226 infant deaths, aged under one year, in 2020, according to the Office of National Statistics .

While the infant mortality rate has generally declined in the last four decades, it has remained relatively stable since 2014.

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Mum admits killing own baby after 'throwing' newborn 'over the balcony'

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A mother has admitted to killing her newborn baby by "throwing them over the balcony" of their flat. Sarah Jayne Barron, 34, has pleaded guilty to infanticide, which also acts as a partial defence against the murder charge she previously denied. The case will now not go to trial and has been adjourned for the preparation of psychiatric reports.

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Shannon Rayner was convicted of infanticide after she killed three of her newborn babies. Rayner's neighbor became suspicious because Rayner had become pregnant three times but had no children around. The police raided her house and found the remains of two of the babies buried around the property.
-Kyle Achenbach
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/prince-edward-island/pei-shannon-rayner-infanticide-sentence-1.5372008

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Shannon Rayner sentenced to 6 years for infanticide | CBC News

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A Charlottetown woman convicted of infanticide for killing three of her newborn babies was sentenced Monday to six years in prison.

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On January 31st, 2018, George was handed her baby, Lily-Mai, when she proceeded to lose her temper and violently shake her, pulling and twisting her leg, and resulted in fatal head injuries, 18 rib fractures, and a leg fracture.

George had been suffering from postpartum depression, and a week before the murder occurred, social services had decided that Lily-Mai was safe being with her parents, even though experts at the hospital were concerned that the baby would be subject to neglect if she were to go with them.

After the murder, George underwent immense amount of stress and guilt for what she had done. This murder could have been prevented if the idea of her was separated from her mental illness and it had been treated seriously.

https://metro.co.uk/2022/07/25/woman-guilty-of-infanticide-over-death-of-her-10-week-old-daughter-17064722/

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A 32-year-old woman in London, Ont., was arrested after an autopsy determined the remains of three babies found in a home on the weekend.
According to a neighbor, the ex-boyfriend of the current resident came out of the house on Saturday with a bucket that contained blood-soaked baby clothes. "He came outside and told everybody he discovered this bucket," the neighbor told CBC News. "He said his girlfriend had this bucket for two years with gardening stuff in it, and he opened it on Saturday, and it was [filled with] bloody clothes and a blanket, and he called the police."
Police were called to the home after the current resident found remains of what was believed to be an infant in advanced stages of decomposition in a bucket in the basement.
There was no known motive for her crimes. They don't know the cause of death of the three infants as well. She clearly was suffering from some sort of mental illness. and I don't think you can really do anything to prevent this case since they found the infants two years after.

-Pouya Yazdandoost

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/more-charges-laid-after-3-infants-remains-found-in-ontario-home-1.78819.

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CBC News · Posted: Jun 09, 2009 11:42 AM EDT | Last Updated: June 9, 2009

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More charges laid after 3 infants’ remains found in Ontario home | CBC News

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A 32-year-old woman in London, Ont., was arrested again on fresh charges Tuesday after an autopsy determined the remains of three babies — not one, as originally suspected — were found in a home on the weekend.

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Kristen pemberton hid her pregnancy and after delivering the baby she placed it in a garbage bag in her closet. two and a half months had passed before the bag was found in her closet after she had moved for work. Doctors stated that she was in a psychotic state when the baby was born which may have motivated her to do it. She was sentenced to 12 months for infanticide and an additional six months for concealing the body. This outcome may have been prevented if there were more options for young mothers to reach out for help.

https://globalnews.ca/news/5383985/woman-who-pleaded-guilty-to-infanticide-speaks-at-sentencing-hearing/

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Saul was 19 years old when she was sentenced to two years of probation in Kamloops, B.C. for drowning her own infant son. She stated that she had passed out at a party and woke up with no clothes, and someone had sexually assaulted her while unconscious which resulted in her pregnancy. Saul gave birth alone in her home bathroom, but having an exam that day she decided to drown the infant in the sink. Upon arrival from the exam, she wrapped the corpse, placed it in a box, and left it in her trunk. Three weeks later, the body was discovered due to a collision an acquaintance had with her car. - Sara P.

Kamloops woman who killed baby before writing university exam sentenced | CBC News

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Kamloops woman who killed baby before writing university exam sentenced | CBC News

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A mother who drowned her newborn son in a sink before leaving her home to write a university exam has avoided time behind bars, though a judge described her actions as “abhorrent.”

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Andrea Giesbrecht, 40, of Winnipeg, who police say also goes by Andrea Naworynski, has been charged with six counts of concealing the body of a child and one breach of probation after the bodies of six babies were found in a U-Haul locker.

https://canadiancrc.com/Andrea_Giesbrecht_AKA_Andrea_Naworynski_40_Winnipeg_Woman_Arrested_6_Dead_Babies_Killer_Criminal_Winnipeg.aspx

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Winnipeg Sun, by David Larkins, Wednesday, October 22, 2014

WINNIPEG - Winnipeg police now say the bodies of six babies were found in a U-Haul locker Monday afternoon and have made an arrest in connection to the horrifying incident.

Police provided an update Wednesday morning and said it was not three or four infant bodies as originally thought that were found in the storage locker.

Andrea Giesbrecht, 40, of Winnipeg, who police say also goes by Andrea Naworynski, has been charged with six counts of concealing the body of a child and one breach of probation. She was arrested at a home, police said.

The offences are alleged to have occurred between March 7 and Oct. 20.

Police spokesman Const. Eric Hofley could not provide much more detail on how the babies were killed, why they were there, or what their relation is to the accused.

Hofley said the case has not been turned over to the homicide unit because more details still need to come to light on many lingering questions.

Hofley said homicide charges have not been laid, but have not been ruled out.

"So many of the questions that I expect you have will be answered forensically," Hofley said. "As you can see by the charges laid, right now we don't have any information regarding a homicide."

Hofley said the child abuse unit is still investigating, but acknowledged finding the answers may prove difficult.

"It's early in the investigation ... some of these questions may never be answered," he said.

Court documents show Giesbrecht was convicted of fraud Sept. 30 and sentenced to two years supervised probation.

Court heard Giesbrecht approached a 73-year-old woman, a neighbour of her deceased parents, and asked for a loan to pay off the taxes on the family home.

Over the course of four visits, the woman paid Giesbrecht a total of $7,850.

"My husband warned me not to (loan her the money) but she always came by when she knew he wasn't home," the woman wrote in a victim impact statement.

Giesbrecht wrote the victim two cheques to satisfy the loan, both of which were drawn on a closed account.

Giesbrecht's fraud was motivated by a long-standing gambling addiction, court was told.

As of her sentencing date, Giesbrecht had made no effort to repay the victim, Crown attorney Manoja Moorthy said.

"It's simply unacceptable to say that all of this is to be blamed on an addiction," Moorthy said. "She is 40 years old. She certainly knows the impact this has had on the victim."

Defence lawyer Allan Libman said Giesbrecht's parents lost all their savings to gambling.

Canadian Press, (various newspapers across Canada, including the Toronto Star) Aug. 16, 2006.

ISLE LA MOTTE, Vt. A Montreal mother recovering from alleged self-inflicted wounds will be charged in the coming days with murdering her 8-year-old son, whose body was found in Lake Champlain, a Vermont state attorney said today.

I am going to prepare a charge of first-degree murder, Grand Isle States Attorney David Miller said in a telephone interview. Read More ..

Australian Associated Press
December 05, 2008
A WOMAN who killed her infant son by jumping with him from the eighth floor of a city apartment block has walked free after being convicted of manslaughter.
Yeeda Topham, 40, of Roleystone near Perth, had pleaded guilty in the West Australian Supreme Court to a charge of unlawfully killing 21-month-old James Topham on November 5 last year. Read More ..

Mother Charged with Killing Her Baby
Fire Officials Claim Fire Intentionally Set
NBC4-TV, Los Angeles, California, U.S.A.

LOS ANGELES, USA -- Murder charges are expected to be filed against a woman whose infant son's body was found in a washing machine after firefighters doused what they say was an intentionally set fire, authorities said Tuesday.

Latunga Starks, 32, was taken into custody last night, according to the Sheriff's Department Web site.

Los Angeles Police Department Lt. Dennis Shirey identified the mother and her nearly 3-month-old son, Michael Kelvin Thompson.

The Toronto Star, By Peter Small, Courts Bureau, March 01, 2008

Xuan (Linda) Peng has been found guilty of second-degree murder in the drowning death of her 4-year-old autistic daughter Scarlett in a bathtub in the family home.

A Superior Court jury returned its verdict Saturday morning after two days of deliberations.

Scarlett Chen was discovered unconscious by her distraught father David Chen in the tub on the second floor of the family's townhouse on Rosebank Dr., near Markham Rd. and Sheppard Ave. E. on July 12, 2004.

Peng told police that she had put their daughter down for a nap in the adjoining bedroom, and had no idea she had climbed into the bathtub, which the woman had filled with water to clean some kitchen utensils.

However, seven months later, homicide detectives charged the 36-year-old Chinese immigrant with first-degree murder. The charges were later reduced to second-degree murder. Read More ..

Associated Press, Globe and Mail, Tuesday, May. 13, 2003, Page A15

TYLER, TEX. -- A woman accused of fatally beating two of her sons with rocks spent Mother's Day sobbing and muttering in a jail cell.

Deanna LaJune Laney, 38, remained on suicide watch yesterday at Smith County Jail, where she was held in lieu of a $3-million (U.S.) bond on capital-murder and aggravated-assault charges.

Ms. Laney is accused of killing Joshua Laney, 8, and Luke Laney, 6, and injuring their 14-month-old brother, Aaron. The toddler remained in critical condition yesterday at a Dallas Hospital.

In a call to emergency workers early Saturday, Ms. Laney reported that she had just "bashed their heads in with a rock," Sheriff J. B. Smith said. Read More ..

Zachary Turner, a 13 months old baby, died at the hands of his fugitive mother, Dr. Shirley Turner, who killed him and then committed suicide on August 18, 2003.

Turner was facing extradition to the United States to stand trial for the 2001 murder of Dr. Andrew Bagby, Zachary's father.

28-year-old Dr. Andrew Bagby was found shot to death in Keystone State Park, 55 kilometres northeast of Pittsburgh, PA, U.S.A.

Turner fled to Newfoundland, Canada where Zachary was born. She was out on bail against the wishes of U.S. authorities at the time of Zachary's death. Read More ..

Canada's largest national newspaper

The Globe and Mail
October 6, 2006

Toronto - As a female friend of Frances Elaine Campione put it, this after Ms. Campione was charged on Wednesday with murder in the death of her two young children, "That mother needs a hug."

In that line, widely repeated in Toronto and national media outlets, is a telling clue to what is so wrong with much of what happens both in the nation's family courts and in its child-protection system -- the pervasive view of the female of the species as constantly nurturing (except, you know, when she allegedly kills) and as in need of constant nurture (hugs all 'round, no matter what).

For the record, Ms. Campione was arrested two days ago after she phoned 911 to report that there were two dead children inside her Barrie, Ont., apartment, and shortly after, didn't police arrive to find the bodies of her own little girls, one-year-old Sophia and three-year-old Serena.

She and her estranged husband Leo were reportedly in the throes of a nasty custody battle, with Mr. Campione accused of assaulting his wife and the older child, and Ms. Campione allegedly alarmed, and/or depressed, at the prospect of losing that fight.

And The Globe has confirmed that involved with the family was the Children's Aid Society of Simcoe County. At the moment, the nature of that involvement is unknown -- except as it has been reported by neighbours who saw social workers at the apartment and say that, for a time recently, the girls lived with their paternal grandparents.

Mothers Who Kill Their Children

Canadian Press
Wednesday, May. 22, 2002

KINGSTON, Ont. (CP) -- An Ontario woman who was sentenced to 16 years in prison in one of Canada's stiffest penalties for child abuse will be released on full parole after serving less than half her term.

Lorelei Turner, 38, and her husband Steven were convicted of manslaughter in July 1995 for beating and starving their three-year-old son John to death in a case that horrified Canadians who followed the trial.

But on Wednesday, a panel of the National Parole Board in this eastern Ontario city ruled Turner will be released but placed on probation until July 2011.

Until then, she must remain within 25 kilometres of her residence, is not allowed unsupervised contact with anyone under 16, and must continue to receive counselling.

"The board would have looked at the risk and obviously found a low risk to reoffend," Carol Sparling of the National Parole Board said Wednesday.

Jillian McCabe is seen in an undated photo provided by the Newport, Ore., Police Department. (Newport, Ore., Police Department)

The Associated Press, U.S.A., November 4, 2014

NEWPORT, Ore. -- A woman who said she threw her 6-year-old son off a historic bridge on the Oregon coast was arrested after the boy's body was found in the bay, police said.

Police and firefighters in the coastal city of Newport, Lincoln County deputies and the Coast Guard searched the bay with boats and a helicopter after Jillian Meredith McCabe, 34, of Seal Rock called 911 at 6:25 p.m. Monday to report throwing her son off the Yaquina Bay Bridge.

The boy's body was found at 10:23 p.m. in the bay after it was spotted near the Embarcadero Resort, police said.

Mothers Who Kill Their Own Children
Days after buying another woman Valentine's Day flowers, a Sydney father came home to find a trail of blood leading him to the bodies of his two young children lying next to their mother, a court has been told.
Australian Associated Press
Aug 24 2009

The woman had given the couple's three-year-old daughter and four-year-old son rat poison and an unidentified pink liquid before smothering them and killing them, court papers said.

She then tried to take her own life, the NSW Supreme Court was told.

Doctors agree the mother, from Canley Heights in Sydney's west, was suffering from "major depression" when she poisoned her children on February 19 last year.

She has pleaded not guilty to the two murders by reason of mental illness.

As her judge-alone trial began, the mother's lawyer told Justice Clifton Hoeben his client didn't think life was worth living after learning about her husband's affair.

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Canadian Children's Rights Council - Conseil canadien des droits des enfants

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Donate About Us Virtual Library of Newspaper Articles Winnipeg Sun, by David Larkins, Wednesday, October 22, 2014 WINNIPEG - Winnipeg police now say the bodies of six babies were found in a U-Haul locker Monday afternoon and have made an arrest in connection to the horrifying incident.

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Ontario Woman sentenced to 6 years for 2 Counts of Infanticide

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Ontario Woman sentenced to 6 years for 2 Counts of Infanticide

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In 2008, a 27-year-old woman was found guilty of 2 counts of infanticide by suffocating the boys who were seven-weeks and nine-weeks old, respectively. The first offense occurred in 1998 and the second in 2002, both initially ruled as SIDS (sudden infant death syndrome). 6 years after the death of the second boy, the woman confessed to the police that she killed them "using blankets and plastic baby-carriage covers, and had mixed cleaning chemicals in one of the baby's bottles". It was later determined that she did have post-partum depression as well as a history of childhood trauma, abuse and suicide attempts. She received one year for the seven-week old, since she was a minor when it occurred, and five years for the nine-week old. She will be viable for probation, but she will be required to inform the court if she becomes pregnant again. because she "indicated a continuing desire to become pregnant and have children".

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A 27-year-old woman was handed a six-year sentence Friday for suffocating two of her infant boys when they were just weeks old, prompting the father of one of the children to yell out in the courtroom that she'll "always be a baby killer."

At first, the deaths of the Guelph, Ont., woman's seven-week-old boy in 1998 and nine-week-old boy in 2002 were ruled the result of sudden infant death syndrome.

But years later, she admitted to police that she smothered the two boys using blankets and plastic baby-carriage covers, and had mixed cleaning chemicals in one of the baby's bottles.

The father of the seven-week-old stared coldly at the accused before he read a victim impact statement. And after the woman was sentenced, he cried out: "You'll always be a baby killer. Baby killer!"

The woman will spend only one more year in jail because of credit for time already served in custody, which is not justice, the father said outside court.

"[One] year in jail is not enough for a human life, let alone a child," he said.

"I'm not happy with it. It opens the door for any woman who wants to play a mental health issue to make kids expendable."

Mother had post-partum depression

Court heard the woman suffered from post-partum depression and had a "difficult childhood" filled with abuse, rejection and suicide attempts.

Ontario Superior Court Justice Cas Herold found her guilty of infanticide and not first-degree murder because he believed her mind was disturbed by the effects of childbirth.

The woman received one year for the death of the seven-week-old - which occurred when she was a minor -- and five years for the death of the nine-week-old.

Herold acknowledged the sentence would be unacceptable to some, but he gave the woman close to the maximum allowed by law. The maximum sentence for infanticide is five years, while the maximum is two years when committed by a minor.

"Obviously there's something very distasteful about talking weeks, months and years of custody and probation when you're trying to support a particular sentence for the killer of a vulnerable infant or, in this case, infants," Herold said.

The woman received the maximum sentence for killing her second boy because it was premeditated, deliberate and repeated behaviour, he said.

"She was aware that she had successfully frustrated an earlier investigation [into the first death] and had, to use the vernacular, gotten away with murder. She did it again exactly the same way."

Father describes grief

The father of the seven-week-old boy told court that losing a child to an accident or sickness is hard enough, but when a child is killed intentionally, the grief is unimaginable.

He noted that within days, he will sadly mark the 10-year anniversary of his son's death and the life that the boy was never able to live.

"There were no birthdays, no Christmas, no barbecues and no baseball games," he said, adding he'll never recover from his grief.

"Many sleepless nights I've spent alone awake visualizing my son's last desperate cries for 'Mommy, Daddy, please help.' ... These scars will never heal."

The father of the nine-week-old boy, who has two other children with the woman, was not in court.

The mother sat in the prisoner's box with red, puffy eyes. When asked if she had anything to say in her defence, she declined to address the court.

In addition to her sentence and probation, the woman will also have to notify authorities if she becomes pregnant again because "she has astonishingly, with her history of killing two children ... indicated a continuing desire to become pregnant and have children," the judge said.

Crown attorney Jocelyn Speyer wouldn't say whether an appeal will be launched over the infanticide verdict, but said the six-year sentence was acceptable since it was just a year shy of the maximum allowed.

"I just hope the result in some small way helps the families achieve some closure and some ability to move on from what's been a very long and a very, very difficult process," she said.

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Ontario woman sentenced to 6 years for 2 infanticides | CBC News

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A 27-year-old woman was handed a six-year sentence Friday for suffocating two of her infant boys when they were just weeks old, prompting the father of one of the children to yell out in the courtroom that she'll "always be a baby killer."

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Shannon Dawn Rayner, 40, was charged after the remains of three of her infants (over the course of 3 years) were found in her home. She was discovered after police were told that Shannon had been pregnant but never seen with children.

Rayner pleaded guilty to all three charges of infanticide and a charge of concealing a body of a dead child. Under the terms of the sentence, Rayner will serve six years in prison minus 13.5 months for the time she has already spent in jail.

In infanticide cases, typically psychological disorders are the cause - although this was not mentioned in the article. It is interesting that Shannon was quite a bit older than the typical age range of infanticide cases. If Shannon was single (no partner was mentioned), it can be more difficult for others to notice if there are psychological changes or if a mother is dealing with PPD. Of course, I believe that if Shannon was provided with mental health support (and perhaps more support from family/friends/peers), this infanticide case could have been prevented. - Jessica McCullough

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/prince-edward-island/pei-shannon-rayner-infanticide-sentence-1.5372008

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Shannon Rayner sentenced to 6 years for infanticide | CBC News

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A Charlottetown woman convicted of infanticide for killing three of her newborn babies was sentenced Monday to six years in prison.

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Megan Huntsman was responsible for killing seven of her babies immediately after birth. When Huntsman's estranged husband found one of the babies wrapped inside a plastic bag in the garage, it was reported to the police who eventually found rest of the babies. Her reason for committing infanticide was based on a belief that her addiction to drugs and other challenges, such as depression, made her a less fit for being a mom. There were many preventative measures that should have been taken from Huntsman. For example, she should have sought help for her addiction or mental health problems. She also should have taken proper measures to avoid pregnancy if she knew she would kill her babies.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/utah-mother-arrested-after-7-dead-babies-found-in-garage-1.2608905

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Mother guilty of Aldershot park baby infanticide

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Mother guilty of Aldershot park baby infanticide

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Babita Rai was a mother in the UK who killed her child within hours of being born. There were no witnesses for the murder, but the investigation revealed the child's tissue across multiple areas in the park indicating that that the child was hit/thrown against multiple surfaces. The article was not clear as to the sentencing for Rai. However they seemed to find her not guilty, likely headed for psychological help.

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-hampshire-57171064

- Shiva Natarajan

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Mother guilty of Aldershot park baby infanticide

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The girl had suffered multiple skull fractures and was less than six hours old, a court hears.

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She was charged to 6 years in prison after killing her 3 newborn children shortly after their birth, and also charged with concealing a body. She was investigated for having been pregnant twice but no sign of young children.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/prince-edward-island/pei-shannon-rayner-infanticide-sentence-1.5372008

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Shannon Rayner sentenced to 6 years for infanticide | CBC News

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A Charlottetown woman convicted of infanticide for killing three of her newborn babies was sentenced Monday to six years in prison.

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Shannon Rayner was sentences to 6 years after killing her three children. She gave birth to three children over a three year period. After her third was born, she caused the death of all three children
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/prince-edward-island/pei-shannon-rayner-infanticide-sentence-1.5372008

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Shannon Rayner sentenced to 6 years for infanticide | CBC News

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A Charlottetown woman convicted of infanticide for killing three of her newborn babies was sentenced Monday to six years in prison.

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Shannon Rayer a Canadian women was sentenced to 6 years in prison for the killings of her 3 infant children over the course of years. once her neighbours became worried about Shannon's many pregnancies but no children, police found Shannon guilty after finding the remains of 2 babies buried on her property. i think proper birth control and therapy for Shannon could have possibly prevented these crimes
- ashley fleming

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Shannon Rayner from Charlottetown was sentenced to 6 years in prison on accounts of three infanticides after neighbors got suspicious of her being pregnant 3 times but not having any young children around. The police raided her house and found the remains of two babies buried in the property. She plead guilty and was sentenced for 3 counts of infanticide and illegally hiding bodies.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/prince-edward-island/pei-shannon-rayner-infanticide-sentence-1.5372008

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Shannon Rayner sentenced to 6 years for infanticide | CBC News

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A Charlottetown woman convicted of infanticide for killing three of her newborn babies was sentenced Monday to six years in prison.

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https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/sarah-leung-sentenced-to-5-years-for-killing-her-2-babies-1.2790354

In 2014, Vancouver resident Sarah Leung was given five years for killing her two babies.

Leung shared that she delivered the baby boys in the toilet of her family home, and threw them in the garabage in plastic bags.

Her father found the first baby in 2009 as she had put him in a clear plastic bag outside of the home, where as the second baby was never found (2010).

"B.C. Supreme Court Justice Mary Humphries said Leung was afflicted with a disturbed mind, and called her actions "horrific" and "hard to understand," noting she is now married to the father of the infants she killed."

Leung's is also required by law to notify provincial child-welfare officials if she falls pregnant at any time in the next 20 years.

Leung's had told her partner that she had miscarried as she was afraid to tell her father as he was known to be controlling and abusive.

- Kate Ray

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Vancouver resident Sarah Leung has been sentenced to a total of five years in prison for killing her two babies.

Leung was sentenced in court in Vancouver on Tuesday to 18 months for killing one child and 42 months for killing the other, minus 50 days for time served.

B.C. Supreme Court Justice Mary Humphries said Leung was afflicted with a disturbed mind, and called her actions "horrific" and "hard to understand," noting she is now married to the father of the infants she killed.

Leung's sentence also requires her to notify provincial child-welfare officials any time she becomes pregnant over the next 20 years.

Outside the court, Leung's lawyer Richard Fowler said it was a difficult case.

"She was responsible for two counts of infanticide, that is why she was sentenced today, but yes her whole family was very, very upset."

Fowler also said Leung knew she was going to prison and was not dealing with it well, but he hoped she would use her time for rehabilitation.

"One of the principle concerns here is rehabilitation. Hopefully she will get some help understanding herself and how she deals with life and pregnancy," he said.

During the trial in April the court heard Leung hid her two pregnancies, fearing the reaction of her father, who was described at trial as "abusive and controlling".

The court also heard that Leung delivered the baby boys into the toilet in the family home, disposing of them in plastic bags in the garbage.

Her father discovered the first baby's body in a clear plastic bag outside the home in 2009 and the police were called. The second child (born a year later) was never found, but is believed to have been buried in a Delta landfill.

Leung's partner knew of the pregnancies, but she told him she had miscarried.

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Woman who killed her two babies sentenced to 5 years | CBC News

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Vancouver resident Sarah Leung has been sentenced to a total of five years in prison for killing her two babies. Leung was sentenced in court in Vancouver on Tuesday to 18 months for killing one child and 42 months for killing the other, minus 50 days for time served. B.C.

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Melody Ngawhika was 2y years old when she suffocated and killed her six-month-old son Elijah. Ngawhika wrapped her son's body in blankets and went to dispose of his body before deciding that she couldn't do that and instead phoned the police and admitted what she had done. She told the police that "the voices told me to do it" and that she was "seeing a demon" when she murdered her son.

Ngawhika was clearly suffering psychologically at the time of the crime and it is possible that the crime could have been prevented if she was receiving support and treatment.

https://www.nzherald.co.nz/rotorua-daily-post/news/infanticide-or-murder-trial-begins-for-melody-ngawhika-accused-of-murdering-baby-son/YMMFDZTAY5HRHGFTCRWXZB4MQU/

- Rhianna Hiom

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A woman was convicted of infanticide for killing her 10-week-old daughter. Six days after taking her daughter home, she shook her baby to death. The social workers had warned her before leaving the hospital about her ability to care for the child as she was supposed to be in residential care if she wanted to take the baby home.  In this case, the motive is clear that she wanted to keep her baby not in residential care. This could have been prevented if the workers made sure she was okay to take care of her baby and not let her leave with her baby.

https://news.sky.com/story/woman-found-guilty-of-infanticide-of-10-week-old-daughter-who-was-discharged-into-her-care-against-medical-advice-12656821

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A young mum shook her baby to death after social workers allowed her to go home from hospital despite medical staff warnings over her ability to care for the child.

Lauren Saint George, 25, was convicted of the infanticide of 10-week-old Lily-Mai George who died from a serious head injury and also suffered 18 rib fractures, two leg fractures and severe bruising.

She snapped and attacked her daughter six days after taking the baby home when social workers told her she would have to go into residential care if she wanted to keep her.

The verdict means the jury decided she had killed her daughter but was not fully responsible for her actions because of the effects of childbirth or lactation. Jurors cleared her of murder, manslaughter, and cruelty towards the baby.

The judge adjourned sentencing Saint George until September 9 to allow for a report to be prepared by the Probation Service.

But he told her that any prison sentence would be suspended, as she had already "suffered and continues to suffer".

Saint George wept in the dock at the Old Bailey as the verdicts were delivered.

Lily-Mai's father Darren Hurrell, 25, was cleared of cruelty.

Lily-Mai was born prematurely in November, 2017, and kept in Barnet Hospital, north London, where staff were concerned about a lack of bonding between mother and baby.

Jurors heard that four days after the birth Saint George refused to visit her daughter on the ward, telling staff she was busy having her dinner.

When she finally agreed to visit her midwives were horrified to see her standing with her back to the baby. Her parents would feed themselves before feeding Lily-Mai.

Saint George and Hurrell had been homeless and staff had tried to stop them taking Lily-Mai away from hospital, believing they were incapable of looking after her.
'Feeling of anxiety'
The mother had told staff that she hated the noises Lily-Mai made and wished she would "cry instead of groaning".

Prosecutor Sally O'Neill QC told the Old Bailey jury: "Almost all of the professionals at the hospital were opposed to the baby being discharged into the parents' care at home and had expressed their concerns about the parents' ability to meet the baby's emotional, developmental and physical needs on many occasions to the social services."

Three referrals were made by hospital staff to social services expressing concern while Lily-Mai was still in hospital.

Alicia Jack, former social services manager at Enfield council, dismissed the first one as there was "no information" on their system about the family, the court was told.

She investigated and decided that no further action was needed regarding the second referral and rejected the third referral as the parents had moved and their case had become the responsibility of Haringey Council.

Sithembile Dzingai, a locality manager who had been involved in discussions about Lily-Mai's care, said: "There was no robust discharge plan to safeguard Lily-Mai.

"In my 12 years as a health visitor I have never had such a feeling of anxiety about a case as I did about Lily-Mai being discharged."
Early January 2018
In early January, 2018, the parents were provided accommodation in Belmont Road, North London and after two months in hospital Lily-Mai was discharged into the couple's care on 25 January.

Responsibility for Lily-Mai's case had been taken over by Haringey Social Services, the same authority heavily criticised for its failings in the notorious Baby P and Victoria Climbié child abuse cases.

Lily-Mai died at Great Ormond Street Children's Hospital on 2 February after her parents found her unresponsive at their home two days earlier.

Details of what happened during Lily-Mai's final weeks was explored in great detail during the trial, largely through evidence from health and social workers.
12 January 2018
Theresa Ferguson, a qualified social worker for two years, was allocated Lily-Mai's case, her first of this scale, on 12 January 2018. At the time she said she had 36 open assessments and 41 allocated cases.

She told the court that she was given the case because the more senior member of the team could not take on any more work.

Ms Ferguson attended a professionals meeting to discuss Lily-Mai's discharge and care on 16 January at Barnet Hospital.

Midwife Marie Creighton said the social worker had a "generally disinterested attitude" when she first attended the meeting.

"I remember her...sauntering in with a miserable look on her face," she said.

"She said she had been to Lauren and Darren's flat and everything was fine and she didn't understand why she was called into the meeting, 'Why are we even discussing her?' She displayed a generally disinterested attitude."

Ms Creighton went on to say that Ms Ferguson's attitude changed as hospital staff explained their concerns.
22 January
Ms Ferguson attended a further discharge planning meeting on 22 January and two days later made a referral for a "legal gateway meeting".

The day after taking this first step to intervene in Lily-Mai's care, Ms Ferguson went on annual leave. She went away for four days on the day of the baby's discharge on 25 January.

Ms Ferguson told the court she did not feel that proposed plans to protect Lily-Mai once she was discharged would safeguard guard her.

She said: "I was really worried about her going home. I was told that with the management there had been conversations and there was not a consideration for a placement at that point and Lily-Mai would be returning home."

Duty social worker Muriel Caboste was allocated the case in the meantime and visited the family on 26 January. She said she left feeling there were no increased child protection issues but noted that the parents were not following the feeding and medication chart.

No visits were made on 27, 28 or 29 January.
29 January
On 29 January the family went to see Darren Hurrell's support worker, Anthony Monbelly and he described Hurrell as a "very proud dad" and a "doting parent" compared with Saint George who he said had "little or no intervention" with the baby.

On 30 January, on her return from annual leave, Ms Ferguson visited the parents.

Prosecutor Ms O'Neill told jurors: "Lily-Mai's skin had a mottled appearance and although Darren Hurrell told Ms Feguson what they had been told to look out for by the hospital, which included the baby developing a pale appearance. He explained it by saying that the baby had a marble complexion."

Health visitor Alberta Nyantaki also visited that day and said Saint George was "on the bed" the whole of her visit and not "fully engaged". She felt that Hurrell was the main carer and saw him give Lily-Mai cuddles and kisses.

The health visitor expressed "serious concerns" to Ms Ferguson after her visit, but was reassured by her that the threshold for a child care protection plan had been met and the legal process had been started.
31 January
The social worker visited the family again the next day, 31 January, to tell the parents that they would need to go into a residential unit or Lily-Mai might be taken away from them. Residential placement meant professionals could observe the parents taking care of the baby.

Ms Ferguson said Saint George was "very despondent" on hearing the proposed plan and told her: "You want to take her, just take her, that's fine." But Hurrell was willing to go into the residential unit.

Ms Ferguson said: "I had quite a thorough conversation with Darren making it clear that he was not to leave Lily-Mai with Lauren.

"He felt he would be able to call the police if he needed to and there would be options where he could go to stay if he needed to. I was confident that Darren was able to safeguard Lily-Mai."

Four or five hours later Saint George called 999 to report that her baby had stopped breathing. Lily-Mai died two days later.

Saint George told police she had tried to be a good mother but had suffered from depression. She said she had never shaken or harmed Lily-Mai.

Hurrell said the baby's injuries could have been caused accidentally: a bump in the bath, a sudden jolt in her pram on a bus or when he had grabbed her leg to stop her falling off a bed.

Neither parent gave evidence in court.
'Deeply saddened'
Haringey Council chief executive Andy Donald and Haringey Council leader Cllr Peray Ahmet said: "We are deeply saddened by the tragic death of Lily-Mai and our thoughts are with those who loved and cared for her during her short life.

"We would like to say how sorry we are that Lily-Mai did not receive the care and protection she deserved.

"There are clearly lessons to be learned and the Haringey Safeguarding Children Partnership has already commissioned a Serious Case Review from an independent expert which, now the trial proceedings are complete, will be concluded and published.

"We are confident we have now made improvements which could have better protected Lily-Mai and we are absolutely committed to protecting children and young people in our borough."

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Woman found guilty of infanticide of 10-week-old daughter who was discharged into her care against medical advice

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A young mum shook her baby to death after social workers allowed her to go home from hospital despite medical staff warnings over her ability to care for the child. Lauren Saint George, 25, was convicted of the infanticide of 10-week-old Lily-Mai George who died from a serious head injury and also suffered 18 rib fractures, two leg fractures and severe bruising.

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A Calgary woman dumped her 3 newborns in a dumpster. She was sentenced to life with no parole for at least 10 years. She was assessed and said to be “panicked and anxious, and that those symptoms triggered de-personalization, resulting in the "disturbance." As this happened three years in a row with 3 babies, I think prevention between any of these could have happened. Maybe deciding not to have more children or getting therapy, or seeking medical aid would have prevented this from happening three times.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/meredith-borowiec-supreme-court-infanticide-murder-1.3504383

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First published March 24.
The Supreme Court has let the infanticide convictions stand for a Calgary woman who dropped three babies in a dumpster, rejecting the Alberta Crown's request to have her retried on second-degree murder.

Thursday's decision marks the first time that the highest court has examined Canada's infanticide law, something it had declined to do in past cases.

"There was no error in the trial judge's summary of the law of infanticide," reads the decision.

Meredith Borowiec admitted to throwing her three newborns in a dumpster outside her home in 2008, 2009 and 2010, respectively. Two died while the third was rescued.

She was originally charged with second-degree murder but was eventually convicted on two counts of the lesser charge of infanticide.

Infanticide is defined by the Criminal Code as a "wilful act or omission" that causes the death of a newborn if at the time the mother has a "disturbed mind" because "she is not fully recovered from the effects of giving birth to the child" or "the effect of lactation."

The Alberta Crown had argued the wording of the law is vague, outdated and leaves too much room for new mothers to kill their babies, no matter their moral culpability.

Parliament intended the concept of a 'disturbed' mind in this offence to have its ordinary meaning. - Justice Thomas Cromwell

The government said it was trying to "prevent this defence from being applied across the board to all mothers who kill their newborn children while only mildly disturbed."

It proposed the wording be changed to read: "A woman has a disturbed mind if her psychological health is substantially compromised from the effects of giving birth and caring for a newborn."

Justice Thomas Cromwell wrote the decision on behalf of the panel of Supreme Court justices who presided over the January hearing.

"In my opinion, Parliament intended the concept of a 'disturbed' mind in this offence to have its ordinary meaning, so as to provide a broad and flexible legal standard which will serve the ends of justice in the particular circumstances of these difficult cases.

"While we can provide some limited guidance for trial judges and juries, the rest is left, by Parliament's design, to their good judgment."

Kim Pate, executive director of the Canadian Association of Elizabeth Fry Societies, praised the high court's decision to preserve the infanticide law.

"There are many examples of situations where men get the benefit of the doubt in situations involving violence against women, like provocation, that sort of thing," she said.

"This is the only situation where there's a defence that actually benefits women only. And so, given the reality that it's very rarely used, and when it is used it's used in legitimate circumstances, we would certainly see this as a favourable decision."

Should section of law be modernized?

Lisa Silver, a law professor at the University of Calgary, says this section of law - in the past - has been left open to interpretation and could be modernized.

"I think that there's good reason for diminished responsibility in cases of infanticide, but is this the right section?" Silver asks.

"Does this reflect why we say people should not be held responsible in those circumstances? So that's part of the concern, is this actual section, as it reads, is it the right one?"

Borowiec's boyfriend rescued 3rd baby from dumpster

In 2010, Borowiec was arrested after police and paramedics found her sitting on her front steps, watching as first responders investigated a baby found alive in the dumpster outside a housing complex.

Ian Turnbull, Borowiec's longtime boyfriend, was on his way home from work when he heard the baby crying.

He jumped into the dumpster, pulled out the hours-old newborn and later learned the child was his own.

Borowiec was originally charged with attempted murder.

But police continued to investigate and eventually charged her with two counts of second-degree murder after she confessed to giving birth to two other babies and throwing them in the same dumpster.

At the time of her second arrest, Borowiec was pregnant again and gave birth in custody.

Psychiatrists differed over whether mind 'disturbed'

The Calgary judge who presided over the murder trial found Borowiec guilty of the lesser offence of infanticide in 2013.

During the trial, the judge heard conflicting opinions from two psychiatrists.

The Crown used court-appointed Dr. Kenneth Hashman, who gave evidence that Borowiec's behaviour and detailed recollections of the crimes were inconsistent with someone who was suffering from a disturbed mind.

Dr. Jeanette Smith, who testified for the defence, said Borowiec was panicked and anxious, and that those symptoms triggered de-personalization, resulting in the "disturbance."

In the end, Justice Peter McIntyre accepted that Borowiec was not suffering from a "mental disorder" but did find symptoms showing a mental "disturbance."

Borowiec was facing a life sentence with no parole for at least 10 years if convicted of second-degree murder.

Infanticide carries a five-year maximum sentence but Borowiec was ordered to spend 18 months in custody.

She has finished serving her sentence and is currently on probation.

Infanticide law originally meant to protect poor and powerless

Canada's laws were enacted by Parliament with "little legal policy analysis and no debate on the validity of the underlying medical assumptions about the effects of childbirth on women," Alberta argued.​

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Infanticide convictions upheld for Calgary woman who dropped 3 babies in dumpster | CBC News

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First published March 24. The Supreme Court has let the infanticide convictions stand for a Calgary woman who dropped three babies in a dumpster, rejecting the Alberta Crown's request to have her retried on second-degree murder. Thursday's decision marks the first time that the highest court has examined Canada's infanticide law, something it had declined to do in past cases.

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51 year old French woman Dominique Cottrez admit to giving birth to, then killing, 8 babies. She killed them out of fear that her babies were the product of the incestuous relationship with her father. During the trial, it was revealed that despite being married, Cottrez pursued this relationship with her father, and hid the pregnancies due to her obesity. The bodies of the children were buried around the house, and the new owners discovered them.

https://nationalpost.com/news/world/dominique-cottrez-on-trial-for-killing-of-her-8-babies-in-worst-infanticide-case-in-modern-french-history

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Cottrez confessed to secretly bearing and then killing eight of her newborns, saying she feared they were children of an incestuous relationship with her father

DOUAI, France - One day in the summer of 2010, a man was digging in his garden in northern France when he discovered a trash bag containing the remains of an infant. When he summoned the police, they found the body of another newborn. A few days later, they found more bags in the garage - with six additional small corpses.

Police contacted the house's previous owners, and quickly discovered the horrifying explanation: Frenchwoman Dominique Cottrez confessed to secretly bearing and then killing eight of her newborns, saying she feared they were children of a long, incestuous relationship with her father.

Cottrez, a 51-year-old mother of two grown daughters, went on trial Thursday in the city of Douai, accused of multiple counts of first-degree murder of minors.

Cottrez wept as she took her seat. She faces life in prison if found guilty.

Her lawyers are expected to argue that she was a victim of rape and incest, and ask for a lesser sentence.

The worst infanticide case in modern French history stunned the country when the bodies were discovered in and around the Cottrez' former home in 2010.

Cottrez's obesity appeared to hide the pregnancies, which went unnoticed by her husband, children, neighbours, colleagues - and even doctors at a nearby hospital.

Dozens of forensic and psychiatric experts, police investigators and witnesses, including her husband, daughters and siblings, are scheduled to testify to help understand the incomprehensible, and perhaps to help the defendant open up.

A withdrawn, secretive nurse's aide, Cottrez told investigators she was raped by her father, first when she was 8 and repeatedly through her childhood and teenage years, according to judicial documents. She later entered a long, incestuous relationship with him as an adult, including after she married, and said that it became consenting - and even said she was in love with her father more than she was with her husband.

Her father died in 2007.

One of the first witnesses called to the stand Thursday is Leonard Meriaux, who bought the Cottrez family house and discovered the first corpse in 2010. He called police, who found another in the garden.

From one interrogation to another, the police went from surprise to stupor. Cottrez first admitted killing the two infants found in the garden. Then she herself informed the investigators that several other bodies were in the garage of the house, but she didn't know how many exactly, according to court documents.

She told the investigating judge that she had never used contraception or had an abortion because of a phobia of doctors. She also said she didn't keep the babies because she was afraid that they were the results of her incestuous relations with her father. She said the killing had become a "means of contraception," according to the judicial documents.

She said she told her father of the eight pregnancies and the eight murders, and investigators believe he could have helped her hide some of the bodies.

The others, I didn't look, I didn't want to. But when they were in the garage, when it was cold, I went there and covered them with a blanket

The death she described the most clearly is the first one, in 1989. She said she smothered the baby boy with sheets, placed him in a trash bag that she had prepared in advance, and put the bag in her wardrobe, according to the documents.

The second killing happened when she was hospitalized for an epilepsy seizure. She said she gave birth in the hospital toilet, strangled the child, wrapped it in plastic sheeting and towels, placed it in the closet of her hospital room and then brought it back home, hidden in her garment bag.

Her memories became blurred for the following births and deaths. The last infanticide was in 2000.

Her husband and daughters say they noticed foul odours in various parts of the house, but thought they
came from sewage, or their dog, or even their father's feet.

Cottrez was released from jail in 2012 after spending two years in temporary detention. In a January interview with a local newspaper, she said: "I never gave first names to the babies. The first one, I saw he was a baby boy. The others, I didn't look, I didn't want to. But when they were in the garage, when it was cold, I went there and covered them with a blanket. "

The verdict is expected next Thursday.

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Dominique Cottrez on trial for killing of her 8 babies in worst infanticide case in modern French history

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Cottrez confessed to secretly bearing and then killing eight of her newborns, saying she feared they were children of an incestuous relationship with her father DOUAI, France - One day in the summer of 2010, a man was digging in his garden in northern France when he discovered a trash bag containing the remains of an infant.

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A 43-year-old Quebec mother of 3 pleaded guilty to infanticide when her newborn baby was found in a plastic bag after she gave birth at home. Although the newborn was taken to the hospital it died from asphyxiation.

As for cause, the woman's lawyers stated that she didn't even know she was pregnant and had no memory of what happened. I would the cause as a postpartum psychosis episode with a risk factor of unplanned pregnancy.
Kata Stohler

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Shannon Rayer was convicted of killing her 3 newborn babies.  Neighbors noticed she had been pregnant multiple times but did not see a baby.  Police found the remains of her infants on her property, form 2014. 2015, and 2016.  Shannon Rayer plead guilty to all three charges of infanticide.  The health assessment completed found the mental state of Shannon Rayer “disturbed”, but not that there was a diagnosis.

When Shannon Rayer was missing so many of her doctors appointments, law enforcement should have been notified, especially as it was not a single incident

CBC/Radio Canada. (2019, November 25). Shannon Rayner sentenced to 6 years for infanticide | CBC news. CBCnews. https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/prince-edward-island/pei-shannon-rayner-infanticide-sentence-1.5372008

-        Selena MacDonald

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A woman from Winnipeg in 2014 has committed multiple act of infanticide and had conceal six bodies of infants inside a u-haul locker. This women as been found with long standing of gambling addictions and is suspected that she would perform infanticide  to fulfil her gambling desire as the cost on raising a child is great.
Kai Tsai
https://canadiancrc.com/Andrea_Giesbrecht_AKA_Andrea_Naworynski_40_Winnipeg_Woman_Arrested_6_Dead_Babies_Killer_Criminal_Winnipeg.aspx

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In 2022, a mother was found guilt of infanticide after she aggressively shook her baby to death. The baby was 10-weeks old and suffered from 18 rib fractures and head injury that ended up killing her. The baby was previously at a social services center and health care professionals warned that the mother may neglect the child, but released her anyway. The most likely motive could have been the mothers lack of commitment to her child and her anger issues as well. This could have been prevented by not releasing the baby into the parents care when professionals warned against it.
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/lily-saint-george-infanticide-guilty-b2130710.html

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Mother guilty of shaking 10-week-old daughter to death

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Lily-Mai Hurrell Saint George was discharged into parents’ care days earlier against advice of health professionals, jurors told

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In Germany, the remains of eight babies were found in Andrea G's apartment last year. She was charged with the murder of four of the children but the other remains were too decomposed to identify cause of death. Despite not wanting any more children, Andrea G and her husband decided not to use contraception. I think more resources for sexual health education and contraception could prevent this case. There is a possibility that the woman could have accessed these resources and decided not to. -Shelby

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-36847321

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Germany baby deaths: Mother jailed for 14 years

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A German woman is sentenced to 14 years in jail over the deaths of four newborn babies whose corpses were found in a house in Bavaria last year.

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a woman gave birth 3 times over 3 years and killed all three of her babies. she concealed a body of one of her children and lied to the authorities about it. i think the main cause is depression and anxiety. what could have been done to prevent it. more help mental health treatment and a good solid support system.
Jessica Zacharias
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/prince-edward-island/pei-shannon-rayner-infanticide-sentence-1.5372008