Michigan mom who left baby to die in cold garage sentenced
MOUNT CLEMENS, Mich. --A 25-year-old Detroit-area mother was formerly sentenced Tuesdayin the death of her newborn child, reports CBS Detroit.
Angela Alexie was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole, according to the station. The child's body was found at a recycling center in January 2015.
Her lawyer said involuntary manslaughter was a more appropriate charge, but a Macomb County jury disagreed last month and convicted Alexie of first-degree murder.
Prosecutors reportedly accused the young mother of choosing a cowardly way of getting rid of the child after hiding her pregnancy. Assistant Prosecutor William Cataldo said that she considered the baby to be a "dirty little secret" and a "roadblock to her social life," reports CBS Detroit.
Prosecutors say her baby froze to death in a garage at a home where Alexie was living -- days after giving birth on Christmas Eve 2014. The child's body was reportedly found three weeks later.
The judge noted that the woman's three other children had been removed from her care. Alexie reportedly held back tears as the judge gave her her sentence.
"I want to say I'm sorry. I didn't mean for it to happen. I don't know, I wish I could take it all back," she said. "I made a mistake. I wish I could take it back."
The mother also told the judge of her substance abuse problems, saying she did anything she could get her hands on.
"I did any pill I could get my hand on. I did heroin, I did crack," Alexie said, according to CBS Detroit.
The judge told Alexie that many couples go through great difficulties trying to have children, saying "unfortunately you had no problem," to which she responded: "I know and I wish I hadn't had done it, like I said."