Breyona Reddick, an Ohio woman, charged with aggravated murder after her newborn baby was found dead in a trash bag at Hiram College in late 2019, has pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter.
Portage County Prosecutor Victor Vigluicci said that Reddick's plea on Friday, April 8, was part of a negotiated deal, with a maximum prison sentence of 11 years. The 21-year-old's sentencing is pending a pre-sentencing investigation and a court's adult probation department report.
Vigluicci said that Reddick's case had been difficult from many perspectives. Reddick's jury trial in the case had been scheduled to start on April 19. Yahoo! reported that the Cleveland native's attorneys could not immediately be reached for comment.
Hiram Police found Reddick's newborn baby in a trash bag
According to Hiram police, the baby boy was discovered in a clear trash bag tied shut and left on the floor of a women's bathroom in Whitcomb Hall, a Hiram College dormitory, on the morning of October 18, 2019. The umbilical cord was still attached to the newborn baby when he was found.
WKYC reported that Reddick was later identified as the dead child's mother through DNA evidence. According to Hiram College, Reddick had been a student of theirs earlier in the school year, but she was not a student when her baby boy was found.
The young child's body was sent to the Cuyahoga County Medical Examiner's Office for an autopsy. It was determined that the baby died of asphyxiation due to exposure and postpartum inattention. His death was ruled a homicide.
The medical examiner's office of Cuyahoga County determined that Reddick's baby was likely born the same day he was found and was alive no more than an hour. Vigluicci told reporters that whether Reddick's baby was born alive or was stillborn was expected to be the subject of testimony during her trial.
Vigluicci said that obviously has a bearing on Reddick's criminal culpability. He added that they were prepared to call experts to prove that the child was born alive, and the defense was going to call experts to claim the child was stillborn.
The Grand jury indicted Reddick on charges of aggravated murder and three counts of murder
A grand jury indicted the 21-year-old Reddick on charges of aggravated murder and three counts of murder and single counts of tampering with evidence, gross abuse of a corpse due to the infant being placed into a trash bag that was tied shut, and assault and child endangerment.
Record-Courier reported that the aggravated murder charge filed against Reddick specified that the victim was under the age of 13, while one of her murder charges specified that the offense was committed in conjunction with felony assault and the other with felony child endangerment.
Vigluicci said that her murder charge was amended down to a felony involuntary manslaughter charge as part of Reddick's plea deal. Prosecutors also have agreed not to prosecute Reddick on the other remaining charges.
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