Woman Arrested On Murder, 25 Years After Newborn Found Dead In Trash Can

[Sugar Cookie]

A New Iberia woman was arrested on a count of first-degree murder Wednesday, more than 25 years after the Iberia Parish Sheriff’s Office says she left her newborn daughter in a Jeanerette trash can, where it died from hypothermia.

Sonia Charles, 50, was arrested by Iberia Parish Sheriff’s Detective Scott Hotard, according to a statement from department spokesperson Maj. Wendell Raborn.

Hotard developed Charles as a suspect after advocacy from a local cold case homicide group brought renewed interest and community members came forward with new leads. As information developed, the case was reopened, Raborn said.

DNA evidence collected from the scene and the infant was retested by the Acadiana Criminalistics Laboratory, which developed a DNA profile that was matched to a family relation through the Combined DNA Index System. Hotard connected the infant to Charles and DNA testing confirmed she was the infant’s mother, Raborn said.

The major said the seriousness of a homicide doesn’t diminish over time and it’s important to pursue justice for every death.

“Baby Jane Doe” was found in a 55-gallon garbage can behind Bob’s Car Wash on the west side of Jeanerette on Jan. 24, 1994. The 6-pound infant was found with a thumb in her mouth. Her body was found by Alderman Bob Fontenot, who owned the car wash.

The Iberia Parish Coroner at the time, James Falterman, determined the baby only lived for a few hours. Aside from hypothermia, he found no other internal or external trauma on the child’s body, according to The Advocate’s archives.

A 4-day-old receipt, blanket and girdle, which police believed was evidence of a hidden pregnancy, were found near where the baby was abandoned, but DNA evidence wasn’t definitive enough to produce a suspect and the leads fizzled.

The abandoned baby was embraced by the community, who rallied to donate all the finery and necessities for her funeral services. The infant was buried wearing a donated white christening gown and bonnet, archives stories said.

Mom arrested on murder 25 years after newborn found dead in Jeanerette trash, Iberia sheriff says

A New Iberia woman was arrested on a count of first-degree murder Wednesday, more than 25 years after the Iberia Parish Sheriff’s Office says she left her newborn daughter in

www.theadvocate.com

 

[Sejanus]

Did they arrest her during a haircut?

 

[tmdgirl]

I'm glad they found the mom and that she's going to finally be brought to justice for what she did to her baby (hopefully).

 

[Ramona the brave]

If she was a dumb teenager when this happened, I would say maybe there was some redemption for her. But she was in her 20s. She bought a girdle to hide her pregnancy. She planned this. So sad and sick. 25 years later... She should still hang.

 

[Mrsarcastic]

If jail is supposed to be about rehabilitation, as opposed to punishment, should she really serve time if she hasn't committed any crime since?

Asking for a friend.

 

[EyEgOrE]

If jail is supposed to be about rehabilitation, as opposed to punishment, should she really serve time if she hasn't committed any crime since?

Asking for a friend.

Absolutely. She had plenty of other options. This happened in '94 - she probably had more options then than if it happened now, and instead she chose to carry the baby to full term, and then just throw it out like trash. So, yes - she should absolutely be punished. She's a child murderer.

 

[Keepalowprofile]

Baby Jane Doe” was found in a 55-gallon garbage can behind Bob’s Car Wash on the west side of Jeanerette on Jan. 24, 1994. The 6-pound infant was found with a thumb in her mouth. Her body was found by Alderman Bob Fontenot, who owned the car wash.

My heart hurts now.

 

[spiff]

If jail is supposed to be about rehabilitation, as opposed to punishment, should she really serve time if she hasn't committed any crime since?

Asking for a friend.

It's also about a deterrent for others. Like hey, if your baby ends up in a trash can we WILL find you (maybe decades later though).

I agree that jail time for the sake of punishment and nothing else is ridiculous, but I think this arrest can serve a purpose for others.

 

[CauseMomSaysSo]

The baby resembles her. Same mouth.

 

[ghosttruck]

Louisiana cops made an arrest Wednesday in a 25-year-old cold case involving a newborn found frozen to death outside a car wash.

Sonia S. Charles, 50, was charged with murder in the 1994 death of Baby Jane Doe after reexamined evidence by the Iberia Parish Sheriff’s Office helped develop a DNA profile that led authorities to positively identify Charles as the victim's mother.

Investigators at the time said the 6-pound infant was alive when she was placed inside a 55-gallon drum behind Bob’s Car Wash in Jeanerette on Jan. 24, 1994 -- before ultimately dying of hypothermia, FOX23 reported.

“Baby Jane Doe,” a name investigators gave the infant, lived for a few hours and was found with her thumb in her mouth, with the umbilical cord and placenta still attached to the body.

She was found the following morning by the car wash owner.

At the time, DNA evidence wasn't enough to nail down a suspect but new leads prompted detectives to reopen the case years later.

The Acadiana Criminalistics Laboratory examined old evidence and was able to create a DNA profile which matched a family member of Charles' listed in the Combined DNA Index System, the sheriff’s office said in a press release.

Louisiana police make arrest in 25-year-old cold case of infant found frozen behind car wash

Louisiana cops made an arrest Wednesday in a 25-year-old cold case involving a newborn found frozen to death outside a car wash.

www.foxnews.com

 

[Mrsarcastic]

Absolutely. She had plenty of other options. This happened in '94 - she probably had more options then than if it happened now, and instead she chose to carry the baby to full term, and then just throw it out like trash. So, yes - she should absolutely be punished. She's a child murderer.

I totally agree with everything you said for what its worth. I'm not in the business of defending baby killers here. I was curious. If she killed the baby yesterday I'd be saying to fry the bitch. But she didn't and we now have 25 years to look at and I certainly think how she's lived the last 25 years should be considered.

I wasn't trolling or anything, legitimately wondered how people looked at it. I find it hard to believe that somebody who did that at 25, was a respectable morally sound person for the last 25 years but I'd have to look into it at the very least and consider it to be mitigating one way or the other. Most people don't get 25 years of freedom after committing a crime like that, so I think it's definitely something to be considered.

What if she became some model citizen and started trying to help people in similar situations so that didn't ever happen again? Purely hypothetical and believe me i laughed myself. That's not my expectation.

Most criminals? CAN'T be rehabilitated and I say punish the hell out of them just like you! Dead serious. Just because they can't be rehabilitated doesn't mean they should just walk, but if you have somebody like HER, that has proven to be a rehabilitated productive member of society? Putting her in jail would do all kinds of damage to the person she became. Hypothetically. She hasn't proven shit to me other than she can live with some real nasty shit on her conscience.

But it was food for thought. I wasn't defending baby killers. And that's the part that matters. At least in the states she'd get time that would effectively be a life sentence. But what if they gave her 5 years under mitigating circumstance. That'd be the absolute worst thing. In 5 years you'd probably have an entirely different person being released back into society.

Anyway, enough standing on my soap box to fight for all of the oppressed baby killers out there.

Post automatically merged: Sep 27, 2019

Oh wow she left her there to freeze to death too. Couldn't even figure out a painless method of some kind. Not that any way would be good but she probably chose the longest and most torturous way.

 

[Keepalowprofile]

@Mrsarcastic , if we were to measure her punishment based on what she did with her life after the crime then maybe we should let all criminals wait 25 years before they are prosecuted.
The fact that she almost got away with murder doesn't make her less of a murderer.

 

[Mrsarcastic]

@Mrsarcastic , if we were to measure her punishment based on what she did with her life after the crime then maybe we should let all criminals wait 25 years before they are prosecuted.
The fact that she almost got away with murder doesn't make her less of a murderer.

That's a little ridiculous now. And I don't know what kind of time she would have gotten but she could very well already be out. It's a moot point I'm just saying that we could be in the same boat, only she's been in the system for 25 years now. Personally, I don't care if she goes to jail for the rest of her life and believe she probably deserves that.

Who knows? She could even have been mentally ill then and is in remission now. Without ever having been diagnosed. She'd lose that defense entirely. I don't care if you're mentally ill and kill babies, you can go to jail like the rest. Be executed like the rest. I don't care if a mentally handicapped person is executed. That's how much I believe in vengeance.

Although I felt bad, one guy who was mentally disabled was saving his apple pie from his last meal... For later. He killed a cop though. Suffered brain damage during his apprehension. Not to due to a police beat down to my knowledge. Which I'd also be okay with.

I'm just trying to be objective. That baby didn't live long enough to have any feelings on this matter as horrible and tragic as it is. What do you think would be justice for that baby? Her "mother" (and I use that term very loosely here, but still the only touch she ever knew), suffering in jail the rest of her life and dying in jail, or becoming a good person and living with the guilt of what she did and trying to "atone" for it I guess you could say? Being around a baby and realizing exactly what she fucking did? At 25 you should know, but not even close to everyone does.

I think the latter would be a greater justice to the baby and Im hoping that's what happened with her time, regardless of where she spends the rest of her life.

Anyway I was done with it. Probably shouldn't have even entertained that ridiculous comparison. It happened. She got away with it for 25 years. Nobody allowed her to. My question and inquiry was nowhere near as obtuse as that.

 

[Inferus]

Life is difficult to create, hard to guide, and a burden to be carried. People like this serve only to support sterilization.