According to Missouri officials and local news outlets, a mother who was accused of abandoning her dead baby in a backpack behind a tire store in 2017 has pleaded guilty.
The remains of the 3- to 5-month-old baby were discovered in a backpack nestled in a stack of old tires in 2019, two years after her death, officials told KMOU.
On November 4, the mother pleaded guilty to abandonment of a corpse and involuntary manslaughter, according to court documents.
Columbia police identified the infant as Samone, who died from positional asphyxiation after her father placed her in an unsafe sleeping position, according to court documents and KRCG.
The father pleaded guilty to the same charges on August 30, according to court records. He was sentenced to seven years in prison.
McClatchy News attempted to contact attorneys for both parents but did not receive an immediate response.
The father’s social media post in 2020 linked him to the infant’s remains, but charges against both parents were not filed until 2022, according to the Columbia Missourian and court records.
Officials said the father was charged after letters addressed to police were discovered in his wallet. According to court documents, one of the letters stated that the mother found the baby with a towel around her neck and blood coming from her mouth.
The mother is scheduled to be sentenced on December 16.
