Prison Sentence for 30-Year-Old Mother After Murder of Baby

In determining the sentence, the mother's previous good conduct, her confession, and psychological stress were considered mitigating factors. Aggravating factors included the brutal manner of the crime and the defenseless victim. The judge described the act as one of the worst crimes and imposed a sentence of 20 years, which was still considered sufficient. The accused withdrew with her defense attorney to consider possible legal remedies, as she was too confused. The prosecutor did not make a statement.

Mother at trial: "I know I am a monster"

The accused confessed during her interrogation to leaving the hospital on November 21, 2024, with her little daughter after wrapping the newborn in a blanket, a paper bag, and a garbage bag. Outside the clinic, she then brutally slammed the bundle multiple times onto the asphalt. "I was not myself. That was a devil in me," said the accused. And further: "I know I am a monster." She claimed to have been "in a tunnel vision": "I didn't know what to do with her." Originally, she had intended to leave or place her daughter outside the clinic. However, outside, the baby began to cry: "I just thought she must be quiet, she must not cry." Therefore, she "tried to strangle her but couldn't manage it." She then killed the child. "Then she was quiet. Then I realized what I had done."

30-year-old became unintentionally pregnant

Regarding the motive, the woman, who has Turkish roots but was born in Austria and is also an Austrian citizen, cited family problems. She only noticed her pregnancy in July. At that time, the relationship between her parents and her partner, the father of the unborn child, was allegedly broken. Out of fear of being disowned by her parents, but also because she couldn't imagine a life together with "the child's father," as she consistently referred to her partner in court, she considered an abortion, which was no longer legally possible due to the stage of the pregnancy. "The abortion was unfortunately not possible because I was already in the 19th week," the accused explained.

She further emphasized before the jury that she "suppressed" her pregnancy. Besides "the child's father," no one knew about it: "I didn't even have a belly. She (meaning: her daughter, note) really hid well inside me." The due date was calculated by doctors - according to the accused, she only visited the doctor once in connection with her pregnancy - to be mid-December. However, on November 14, the 30-year-old went into labor. On the same day, she gave birth to a healthy girl at the Favoriten Clinic in the presence of the child's father. The premature baby was taken to the neonatal unit for monitoring and developed well there. While the father was happy about his daughter, the mother's family allegedly reacted anything but positively.

After Killing, Defendant Initially Feigned Ignorance

When the mother was supposed to be discharged from the hospital on November 21, the woman "panicked," the prosecutor explained. After she killed the baby, the woman initially feigned ignorance to the clinic staff and pretended the child had been abducted, which led to a large-scale police search operation. The following day, the baby's body was discovered in a trash container, where the 30-year-old had placed the dead body. As the autopsy revealed, the girl had suffered a massive skull-brain trauma and multiple bone fractures. The killing was not planned, emphasized defense attorney Astrid Wagner: "She loved the child. She did not want to give it up." One should not expect "rational, reasonable explanations" from the trial or the defendant, Wagner said, referring to "unleashed emotional demons."

30-Year-Old Mother Fully Responsible

According to psychiatric expert Peter Hofmann, the defendant was fully responsible. According to the expert, she was aware at the time of the crime that her actions were wrong. There is no indication that the woman "psychotically derailed" due to the hormonal effects of childbirth, Hofmann emphasized. The father of the murdered baby was called as a witness, who contradicted the defendant's account in several key points and appeared very composed and emotionally controlled in court. He claimed that his parents got along well with his partner. His parents were looking forward to their granddaughter and had set up a nursery at their home. A bed for his little daughter had also already been purchased. The witness emphasized that he was present at the birth in the hospital and had visited the mother and child daily for several hours in the hospital. On the day of the incriminated act, he wanted to pick them up and bring them home.

Defendant Mother: "I Died with Her"

"She didn't want the child from the beginning," the prosecutor pointed out in her closing argument, referring to the result of a phone analysis, according to which the defendant had googled search terms like "self-abortion," "Serbia abortion costs," or "child abduction" at the end of October. The 30-year-old had "acted deliberately and purposefully" and wanted to get rid of her daughter, even though her partner's parents had offered her and the child a place to live and set up a nursery. "I am really very sorry for what happened. If I could turn back time, I would do everything differently and she would be alive," the defendant said in her closing statement before she began to sob. "I died with her," she cried, "I will now only live for her."

(APA/Red)

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