Wyandotte Woman Enters Guilty Plea In Death Of Newborn Son At Work
DETROIT (WWJ/AP) - A 26-year-old Downriver woman has pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in the death of her newborn son, whom she stuffed into a plastic bag after giving birth at her workplace.
The Wayne County Prosecutor's Office said Kimberly Pappas entered the plea Wednesday during a court conference. Under the agreement, the Wyandotte woman will be sentenced to nine to 20 years in prison.
Police say the baby was discovered on March 31 at CEVA Logistics — a Redford Township freight management business. According to investigators, Pappas arrived at work and gave birth in the bathroom of her office. She then allegedly cut the cord with cuticle scissors, sealed her infant son inside a plastic bag and placed it in a tote bag near her desk. Employees saw the blood in the bathroom and called firefighters, who found the still-warm boy unresponsive in the bag. He had suffocated.
Defense attorneys said Pappas thought the child was stillborn and did not intend on killing her child. Pappas had hid her pregnancy from her co-workers and family, with whom she lived.
Pappas had been facing up to life in prison on charges of first-degree premeditated murder, felony murder and first-degree child abuse before pleading guilty to the lesser charge. She is scheduled to be sentenced Oct. 26 in Wayne County Circuit Court.
****Authorities are reminding the public that Michigan has a "safe haven" law — which allows parents to safely surrender their newborn child, no more than 72-hours-old, to an employee who is inside and on duty at any hospital, fire department or police station, or by calling 911. This program is a safe, legal and anonymous alternative to abandonment or infanticide, and releases the newborn for placement with an adoptive family.
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