NEW YORK (AP) – A woman police believe threw her newborn daughter to her death from a seventh-floor window of a New York City apartment building has been arrested.
The New York Police Department said Tuesday that Jennifer Berry was arrested on murder and manslaughter charges.
Officers responding to the Bronx apartment building on Monday after a 911 call found the dead infant with her umbilical cord still attached in a courtyard. A medical examiner ruled Tuesday the baby died of multiple blunt force injuries.
Authorities believe Berry hid her pregnancy from her boyfriend. He told police he was in another room when the baby was born and when the baby plunged from the window.
Berry is in custody and can’t be contacted. It’s unclear if she has an attorney who can comment for her.
THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP’s earlier story is below.
A woman who apparently hid her pregnancy from her boyfriend gave birth in her home and tossed her newborn daughter out a seventh-story window to her death, police said Tuesday.
Police officers found the infant with her umbilical cord still attached in a courtyard of the Bronx apartment building on Monday afternoon. They had responded to the home after receiving a call that an infant had fallen from a window.
An autopsy revealed the infant died of blunt force injuries, chief medical examiner Dr. Barbara Sampson said Tuesday. The baby’s death was ruled a homicide, meaning she had been born alive.
Detectives questioned the child’s mother throughout the night Monday. Police said charges against the woman were pending Tuesday afternoon.
The woman’s boyfriend told police he was in another room when the child was born and when the baby plunged from the window. He told investigators he didn’t realize either event had occurred and had no idea his girlfriend was pregnant, officials said.
It was unclear how much time elapsed between the baby’s birth and her fall from the window, officials said.
The city’s Administration for Children’s Services is investigating the circumstances that led to the baby’s death, a spokesman said. Authorities said privacy laws prohibited the agency from commenting on whether child welfare investigators had interacted with the family before.
Tiffany Martinez, who lives across the street from the Bronx apartment building, told The New York Times she was shaken up by the baby’s death.
“I get frustrated with my son a lot,” she told the newspaper, but “doing harm to him never crossed my mind.”
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