Tina Marie Reynolds, 30, pleaded
guilty to second-degree reckless manslaughter after
allegations she gave birth to a full-term baby in her
bathtub last year and allowed the child to drown. She is
scheduled to be sentenced to four years in state prison,
followed by three years of parole.
Andrea Yates Conviction Overturned
Houston, TX 2006
A Texas
Jury overturned Andrea Yates’ capital murder conviction
in the drowning deaths of two of her five children.
Yates’ is declared not guilty for reasons of insanity
and committed to North Texas State Hospital.
Mother Found Guilty of Endangerment in Her Own
Children’s Drowning
Decatur, IL 2006
Amanda Hamm, 30, was convicted of
child endangerment in the drowning deaths of her three
children, Christopher Hamm, 6, Austin Brown, 3, and
Kyleigh Hamm, 23 months, after the family's car sank in
a Clinton lake three years ago. Prosecutors had charged
Hamm with first-degree murder for going along with her
boyfriend's plan to drown the children to hold onto a
troubled and sometimes abusive relationship.
Oakland Mother Says God Told Her to Drown Children in
San Francisco Bay
San Francisco, CA 2006
LaShaun
Harris, 23, claims to have heard voices from God telling
her to sacrifice her three children, 6-year-old
Trayshawn Harris, 2-year-old Taronta Greely, Jr., and
16-month-old Joshua Greely, and tossed them over a
railing into the cold waters of the San Francisco Bay.
Taronta's body was recovered that same night. The other
two have not been found.
Boy
Dies after Mother Attempts to Drown Him in Bathtub
Bristol, VA 2005
After spending 5 days on life support, the son of Andrea
Jennings Petrosky died. Petrosky, 38, faces attempted
capital murder and felony child abuse charges after
allegedly choking her 6 year-old son, then attempting to
drown him in a bathtub.
Downs
Charged with Drowning Death of Seven Month-Old Daughter
Norfolk VA 2005
Roxanne Downs, 26, has been charged with the drowning
death of her 7 month-old daughter, Sarah. The prosecutor
says that Downs confessed to deliberately holding the
child under the bathwater for several minutes.
Sherr Charged With Attempted Drowning Of Her Two
Children
Landsdowne, VA 2005
Isabel Sherr, 30, has been charged with two counts of
attempted capital murder after she allegedly tried
drowning her 19 month-old daughter and 4 year-old son.
Sherr later jumped out of a second story window of her
home in an attempt to kill herself.
Body of
Newborn Discovered in Laundry Bag
Palatine, IL 2005
The body of a newborn boy was discovered outside the
back door of an apartment building in Palatine, hidden
in a bloodstained laundry bag.
Woman Sentenced to Life in Prison for Murdering Her
Infant Child
Memphis, TN 2005
After being found guilty of murder of her 8 month-old
son, Lisa Marie Butler, 20, was sentenced to life in
prison for first degree murder. The woman had admitted
to police that she punched the infant in the head and
stomach on June 17, 2003, following an argument with the
child’s father.
Firefighters Find Two Children Drowned in Bathtub
Chicago, IL 2004
Abby Granson, 23, faces two charges of first-degree
murder after her young children were found drowned in a
bathtub at their home. The bodies of two-year-old Isaac
and four-year-old Sandra Yonan were found after
firefighters put out a small fire in the kitchen.
Mother
Charged with Killing Newborns and Hiding Bodies in
Concrete
Canadice, NY 2004
Stacy DeBeer, 30, was arraigned on charges of killing
two of her infants—one in June 1998 and the other in May
2003 — and hiding their bodies in pails of concrete that
investigators had to break apart with hammers.
Woman Kills Herself after Allegedly Smothering Infant
Daughter
Bayonne, NJ 2004
It is believed that Emiri Padrone smothered her 10
month-old daughter with a stuffed animal prior to
killing herself by stabbing herself in the chest. No
motive was discovered, however, Padrone had been in
psychiatric care.
Mother
Charged with Gruesome Death of Baby
Dallas, TX 2004
Dena Schlosser, 35, was charged with capital murder on
November 22 for killing her 10 month-old baby. After
dialing 911, police and paramedics found Ms. Schlosser
at home covered in the blood of her child, still holding
a knife.
Mother Sentenced in Christmas Slaying of Newborn Baby
Mineola, NY 2004
Kathleen Brown of North Massapequa was sentenced to 18
years to life in prison for the killing of her newborn
son on Christmas Day 2001. Last June, Brown pleaded
guilty, confessing to have placed her baby in a plastic
bag while he was still alive.
Mother Throws 14 Month-Old Twins in Mississippi River
St. Paul, MN 2003
Naomi Gaines threw her 14 month-old twins into the
Mississippi River, after which she jumped into the river
yelling, "Freedom!" She and one child were saved. It is
believed that Gaines has had a history of postpartum
depression and mania.
Lisa
Diaz Drowns Her Two Daughters
Plano, TX 2003
Lisa Diaz, 33, is being charged with the drowning deaths
of her two daughters in a bathtub. The bodies of Briana,
6, and Kamryn, 3, were discovered by their father, Angel
Diaz, on the bed in the master bedroom, naked, wet, and
covered with a blanket. Lisa Diaz was found bleeding
from self-inflicted stab wounds to her chest, neck and
arms.
Mother
Drowns Her Three Sons in Bathtub and Kills Herself
Norfolk, VA 2002
According to police, Sonita Barkley drowned her three
young sons in her bathtub then jumped off a bridge,
killing herself in the Elizabeth River.
Baby
Girl Found Buried in Mother’s Back Yard
Tuscon, AZ 2002
Heather Porzel, a 20 year-old University of Arizona
student, was arrested and charged with the premeditated
murder of her baby girl after the infant’s remains were
found buried in Porzel’s back yard.
Flores Drowns her Kids and Herself in Rio Grande River
Pilar, NM 2002
Bernadine Flores, a 32 year-old resident of Taos,
drowned her two children and herself in the Rio Grande
River in Pilar. The children were 4 years old and 16
months old.
Andrea Yates Drowns Her Five Children
Houston, TX 2001
Andrea Yates, 36, was charged with capital murder in the
drowning deaths of her five children, ages 6 months to 7
years, in the bathtub of her suburban Houston home.
Woman Found Guilty for Brutal Stabbing of Her Baby
Vallejo, CA 2000
Jurors found Teresa Nelson guilty of second degree
murder in the 1999 brutal killing of her 23 month-old
daughter. After an argument with the child's father,
Nelson allegedly stabbed her child to death, then
stabbed herself in the abdomen, after which she called
family members.
Riggs Executed by Lethal Injection for Murder of Her Two
Children
Sherwood, AK 2000
Christina Riggs was executed by lethal injection for the
1997 deaths of her two children, Justin, 5, and Shelby,
2. Riggs herself requested a death sentence, and is the
first woman to be executed in Arkansas in 150 years.
Noe
Confesses to Killing Her Eight Children
Philadelphia, PA 1999
From 1948-1968, all ten of Mary Noe's children died at
the age of less than six months. Although two deaths
were of natural causes, Noe confessed that she had
killed the other eight children with her own hands.
Rodriguez Acquitted of Strangling Death of Son for
Reasons of Insanity
Houston, TX 1998
Evonne Rodriguez was found not guilty by reasons of
insanity of the strangling death of her 4 month-old son
with her rosary beads. She discarded the baby’s body in
Buffalo Bayou because she believed he was possessed by
demons, and later told police that the child had been
kidnapped.
Teen
Mother Pleads Guilty in Baby’s Death
Dover, DE 1998
Amy Grossberg, 19, accused of killing her newborn son
and leaving him in a motel trash bin in 1996 pleaded
guilty to manslaughter during a court hearing. Her
former boyfriend Brian Peterson, 19, also pleaded guilty
to manslaughter and agreed to testify against Grossberg.
Woman Drives into French Creek, Drowning Herself and Her
Three Children
Meadville, PA 1997
Tina Reid, 29, drove her car into French Creek near
Meadville, drowning herself and her three children.
Police investigators are trying to determine the
mother’s motivation. A note was found in the woman’s
home addressed to her husband, raising the question of
suicide.
Susan
Smith Found Guilty of Drowning Her Two Sons
Union, SC 1995
After five days of testimony, along with Susan Smith's
confession, it took the jury only two and a half hours
to reach a verdict of guilty on two counts of murder in
the drowning deaths of her two sons by strapping them in
their car seats and rolling the car into the John D.
Long Lake.
Death of Twin Newborns Investigated
Allison
Lake, British Columbia, Canada 1994
Princeton RCMP has launched a homicide investigation
after twin newborn girls were found dead in the pit of
an outhouse at Allison Lake Provincial Park on October
9, 1994.
Postpartum Depression Argued a Mitigating Factor in
Murder of Infant
Washington, D.C. 1993
LaTrena Pixley of Washington, D.C., pleaded guilty to
second-degree murder in the smothering death of her 6
week-old daughter. Her lawyer argued postpartum
depression as a mitigating factor.
Woman Investigated for Smothering Two Newborns
New York, NY 1989
Ann Green of New York is under investigation for the
smothering deaths of two newborns. One child died in
1980 and a second in 1982. The deaths were investigated
only after she allegedly tried to kill a third child.
Ms. Green said she had seen hands she did not recognize
holding pillows over the infants' faces.
Mother
Guilty of Killing Son by Tossing Him in Traffic
Orange County, CA 1987
An insanity defense was unsuccessful in convincing a
jury to acquit Sheryl Massip of Orange County,
California of murdering her 6 week-old son by tossing
him into traffic, then intentionally running over him in
a car. A judge overturned the verdict.
Tinning Convicted of Murdering One of Her Nine Deceased
Infants
Schenectady, NY 1987
Mary Beth Tinning, 44, who lost all of her nine children
from 1972 to 1985 as infants, has been found guilty of
the murder of her child Tami Lynne. The sentence will
carry a potential 20 years to life in prison.
Woman Tosses Six of Her Children in the Buffalo Bayou
Houston, TX 1986
After tossing six of her seven children into the Bayou,
Juana Leija pleaded no contest for the drowning deaths
of two of her children and received a sentence of 10
years of probation. The others children were rescued by
passersby.
Fisher Drowns Three More of Her Children
Bangor, ME 1966
After being released from a five year stay at a mental
hospital for the drowning deaths of three of her
children in 1954, Constance Fisher, returned home only
to give birth to three more children and drown each of
them.
Mother
Hangs Herself after Drowning Her Five Children
Aiea, HI 1965
While undergoing treatment at a psychiatric hospital for
the drowning deaths of her five children in a bathtub,
Maggie Young hanged herself in a shed on the hospital
grounds.
Woman Accused of Infanticide Sentenced to Death
Baltimore, MA 1951
A woman, Betsey, was tried at Haggerstown for murdering
her infant illegitimate child. The infant had been found
where it had been concealed, under circumstances that
were conclusive based on the opinion of the examining
physician that the child had been born alive and that
the child’s life had been terminated under violent
circumstances. The jury, after being out 15 minutes,
returned a verdict of guilty. Sentence of death was
passed upon the prisoner.
A Case
of Infanticide at Greenville
Greenville, SC 1874
Great shock has been caused at Greenville owing to the
discovery in the railroad depot of a traveling bag
containing a dead male child supposed to be from four to
six weeks old. The head of the child was black, and the
hands tightly clenched, indicating that it may have been
strangled to death.
Shocking Case of Infanticide
Manchester, NH 1851
A woman named Kate V. Poole was housed in our jail for
the murder of her infant child of two months by throwing
it from the car about one mile below Manchester on the
Nashua route.
Woman
Drowns Her Three Children
Pittsfield, IL 1841
A woman destroyed her three children, the oldest about 8
years old, by drowning them in a creek. The woman
informed a man of what she had done and where they could
be found, and of her intention to drown herself in the
Mississippi River. The children were found laid out and
protected by some boughs to cover their faces. The woman
has not been seen or heard of since.
Unknown
Mother Drowns Baby
Eastern Argus, MA 1825
A bag was discovered at the end of Yoeman’s and Dolby’s
wharf containing a horrible and heart-wrenching
spectacle. Inside it was the body of a female infant,
which appears to have just been committed to a watery
grave by some inhuman wretch, to conceal, no doubt, her
guilt and infamy. |
reflects is that we as women and mothers have a profound
responsibility to love and protect our children, and
those women who betray this responsibility will suffer
the consequences.