NEW YORK, Sept. 30 (UPI) — A New York woman was charged with second-degree murder after her newborn daughter — umbilical cord still attached — was found dead after falling from the seventh floor of an apartment building.
The child was found dead Monday in the University Heights area of the Bronx in New York.
The wife of the building’s superintendent said she found the body of the child in the courtyard of the building. Police said the child was likely born on the seventh floor and then thrown from the window. Investigators found surveillance video showing the child falling to the courtyard.
The mother, 33-year old Jennifer Berry, was charged Tuesday with second-degree murder and manslaughter. The baby’s death was ruled by the city medical examiner as a homicide produced by multiple blunt for injuries.
Berry’s case has been adjourned until Oct. 5 while she remains in jail.
Neighbors said they only saw Berry periodically in the building where she lived with the newborn’s father and a toddler from a previous relationship. The father was initially detained and questioned by police but released after he said he had no knowledge of the pregnancy and was in another room when the incident took place.
Neighbors also commented on the friendly nature of the father, who is Berry’s boyfriend. One woman, Tiffany Martinez, told NBC 4 New York he was always asking about her son, who is autistic.
