Mom accused of tossing newborn girl had baby son die in 2008

NEW YORK (AP) — A woman charged this week with tossing her newborn daughter to her death from a seventh-story window had an infant son die seven years ago, and prosecutors have now reopened their investigation into his death, authorities said Wednesday.

The 2 1/2-week-old boy was found dead in the basement of Jennifer Berry’s home in 2008. A medical examiner ruled he died of natural causes related to sudden infant death syndrome.

But prosecutors in Westchester County decided to reopen their probe into the boy’s death after Berry was charged Tuesday in the Bronx with tossing her baby daughter from the window of her boyfriend’s apartment.

“In light of what has transpired, we will be reviewing that death again,” said Lucian Chalfen, a spokesman for Westchester County District Attorney Janet DiFiore.

In her most recent pregnancy, Berry’s family and friends didn’t even know she was expecting, authorities said. She told them she had miscarried, police said.

The 33-year-old from Yonkers was charged with murder and manslaughter in the girl’s death Monday.

When police showed up at the Bronx apartment building in the quiet, residential neighborhood of University Heights on Monday afternoon, they found the girl’s body in a garbage-filled alley behind the building.

Berry was questioned for hours by detectives and initially denied she was pregnant before saying she had given birth in the shower, authorities said. She claimed the newborn wasn’t breathing when she threw the baby — and the placenta — from the window, police said.

But prosecutors say she knew the baby was alive when she threw her, umbilical cord still attached, into the alley below. The medical examiner said the baby died from blunt force trauma in the fall, meaning she was born alive.

The city’s Administration for Children’s Services is investigating the circumstances that led to the baby’s death.

Berry briefly worked for the child welfare agency from July 2007 until January 2008. The first three months were in classroom-style training to become a child protective specialist, who would investigate reports of child abuse and refer parents to classes on how to raise their children. The rest of Berry’s time at the city agency was spent as a trainee, where she had limited interaction with families. She was fired from her job after she stopped showing up for work.

Berry appeared in court late Tuesday and pleaded not guilty to the felony charges. Her attorney didn’t immediately respond to a message seeking comment.

Assistant District Attorney Georgia Barker said the baby weighed 8 pounds — the weight of a full-term newborn.

“There was air in the lungs. This was a healthy baby girl,” Barker said in court, according to the Daily News of New York.

Berry’s boyfriend told police he was in another room when the baby was born. He told investigators he didn’t realize that his girlfriend had given birth, that the baby had plunged from the window or even that his girlfriend was expecting.

As authorities continued their investigation, neighbors passed crime scene tape that was still tied to banisters in the seven-floor apartment building, and others left small keepsakes in a makeshift memorial in the lobby.

“Why did she do this? I’ll just never understand,” said Lourdes Ayala, who lives down the road. “It tugs at your heart as a mother. I just couldn’t believe it. There are just no words to describe how horrible it was.”

A cardboard box that held a small teddy bear, flowers and a bottle had a handwritten note that read: “Came into this life unknown, not knowing what would happen to me, I didn’t have a chance. May her soul rest in peace with God.”

New York law allows parents to anonymously give up a child by leaving a baby — up to 30 days old — at a safe place without fear of prosecution. The state’s Abandoned Infant Protection Act protects parents from being prosecuted as long as the child is dropped at a hospital, police station or fire station and the parent notifies someone of the infant’s location.

___

Associated Press writers Colleen Long and Jake Pearson contributed to this report.

More in News

(Juneau Empire file photo)
Aurora forecast for the week of March 25

These forecasts are courtesy of the University of Alaska Fairbanks’ Geophysical Institute… Continue reading

The aging Tustumena ferry, long designated for replacement, arrives in Homer after spending the day in Seldovia in this 2010 photo. (Homer News file photo)
Feds OK most of state’s revised transportation plan, but ferry and other projects again rejected

Governor’s use of ferry revenue instead of state funds to match federal grants a sticking point.

The Shopper’s Lot is among two of downtown Juneau’s three per-hour parking lots where the cash payments boxes are missing due to vandalism this winter. But as of Wednesday people can use the free ParkSmarter app to make payments by phone. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)
Pay-by-phone parking for downtown Juneau debuts with few reported complaints

App for hourly lots part of series of technology upgrades coming to city’s parking facilities.

A towering Lutz spruce, center, in the Chugach National Forest is about to be hoisted by a crane Tuesday, Oct. 27, 2015, for transport to the West Lawn of Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., to be the 2015 U.S. Capitol Christmas Tree. (Photo courtesy of the U.S. Forest Service)
Tongass National Forest selected to provide 2024 U.S. Capitol Christmas Tree

Eight to 10 candidate trees will be evaluated, with winner taking “whistlestop tour” to D.C.

Annauk Olin, holding her daugher Tulġuna T’aas Olin, and Rochelle Adams pose on March 20, 2024, after giving a presentation on language at the Alaska Just Transition Summit in Juneau. The two, who work together at the Alaska Public Interest Research Group’s Language Access program, hope to compile an Indigenous environmental glossary. (Photo by Yereth Rosen/Alaska Beacon)
Project seeks to gather Alaska environmental knowledge embedded in Indigenous languages

In the language of the Gwich’in people of northeastern Alaska, the word… Continue reading

The room where the House Community and Regional Affairs Committee holds its meeting sits empty on Tuesday. A presentation about an increase in the number of inmate deaths in state custody was abruptly canceled here. (Claire Stremple/Alaska Beacon)
Republican lawmakers shut down legislative hearing about deaths in Alaska prisons

Former commissioner: “All this will do, is it will continue to inflame passions of advocacy groups.”

(Michael Penn / Juneau Empire file photo)
Police calls for Monday, March 25, 2024

This report contains public information from law enforcement and public safety agencies.

Employees at the Kensington Mine removing tailings from Johnson Creek on Feb. 17 following a Jan. 31 spill of about 105,000 gallons of slurry from the mine, although a report by the mine’s owners states about half slurry reached the creek 430 meters away. (Photo from report by Coeur Alaska)
Emergency fisheries assessments sought after 105,000-gallon tailings spill at Kensington Mine

Company says Jan. 31 spill poses no risk to Berners Bay habitat, but NOAA seeks federal evaluation.

Dozens of people throw colors in the air and at each other during a Holi festival gathering Monday night outside Spice Juneau Indian Cuisine. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)
Holi festival in Juneau revives colorful childhood memories for some, creates them for others

Dozens toss caution and colored cornstarch to the wind in traditional Hindu celebration of spring

Most Read