Current:Home > NewsMom gets life for stabbing newborn and throwing the baby in a river in 1992. DNA cracked the case-InfoLens
Mom gets life for stabbing newborn and throwing the baby in a river in 1992. DNA cracked the case
View Date:2024-12-23 12:06:25
YORK, S.C. (AP) — A 50-year-old woman was sentenced Wednesday to life in prison for killing her newborn daughter, whose stabbed body was found in a plastic bag in a South Carolina river in 1992.
A York County jury convicted Stacy Michelle Rabon of homicide by child abuse earlier this month. She was charged with her baby’s death two years ago when her DNA sample taken in a 2019 drug arrest matched the DNA from the infant.
Rabon will be eligible for parole starting in 2031 because she was sentenced under the law in 1992 which allowed for shorter sentences for serious convictions.
Rabon told investigators she delivered the baby in a van by the Catawba River near Rock Hill, but then gave it up to a couple because she didn’t want to keep her and never saw the child again.
Prosecutors said she made up that story after she was arrested. They said the infant was found wrapped in sheets inside a plastic bag in the river in August 1992 and was stabbed at least 50 times. Investigators couldn’t determine if the baby died from the stab wounds or suffocated in the bag.
“Stacy Rabon threw her baby into that cold Catawba River — never looking back, abandoning her, keeping her secret for 29 years,” said York County Sheriff’s deputy Lanelle Day, the detective who made the DNA link.
Rabon asked for mercy. She said her decision to give the child up to people she didn’t know haunts her.
“I can’t think of anything but her face,” Rabon said. “Think about her everything, growing up -- all these things were taken from her because I made poor decisions.”
Circuit Court Judge Bill McKinnon said the life sentence was appropriate because the victim was so vulnerable.
“A newborn comes into this world looking for its parents to protect it,” McKinnon said. “This baby was stabbed more than 50 times.”
Rabon’s lawyer said she is a much different person than the teen who had the baby more than 30 years ago. She came into court Wednesday in a wheelchair and needs surgeries.
The community called the girl “Baby Angel Hope” and buried her in 1992.
veryGood! (1518)
Related
- Chris Evans Shares Thoughts on Starting a Family With Wife Alba Baptista
- Nicki Minaj cancels Amsterdam concert after reported drug arrest there last weekend
- Champions League final highlights: Real Madrid beats Dortmund to win 15th European crown
- Lawsuit ends over Confederate monument outside North Carolina courthouse
- Forget the bathroom. When renovating a home, a good roof is a no-brainer, experts say.
- When will Mike Tyson and Jake Paul fight? What we know after bout is postponed
- From collapsed plea deal to trial: How Hunter Biden has come to face jurors on federal gun charges
- Princess Kate to skip major U.K. military event in London over 2 months after announcing cancer treatment
- Trump breaks GOP losing streak in nation’s largest majority-Arab city with a pivotal final week
- Former General Hospital star Johnny Wactor shot and killed in downtown LA, family says
Ranking
- NFL power rankings Week 11: Steelers, Eagles enjoying stealthy rises
- Jennifer Lopez cancels This is Me ... Now tour to spend time with family: I am completely heartsick
- Woman pleads guilty to negligent homicide in death of New York anti-gang activist
- Disruptions at University of Chicago graduation as school withholds 4 diplomas over protests
- Katharine Hayhoe’s Post-Election Advice: Fight Fear, Embrace Hope and Work Together
- Don’t throw out that old iPhone! Here’s where you can exchange used tech for dollars
- Jennifer Lopez cancels 2024 tour This Is Me: 'Completely heartsick and devastated'
- At least 50 deaths blamed on India heat wave in just a week as record temperatures scorch the country
Recommendation
-
Can't afford a home? Why becoming a landlord might be the best way to 'house hack.'
-
Bus carrying Hindu pilgrims to a shrine in India plunges down 150-foot gorge, killing 22 people
-
Kyra Sedgwick and the lighter side of disability in All of Me
-
The Top 12 Must-Have Lululemon Gifts for Father's Day 2024
-
Rafael dissolves into a low pressure system in the Gulf of Mexico after hitting Cuba as a hurricane
-
Watch Live: Explosive Iceland volcano eruption shoots lava across roads and sends pollution toward the capital
-
Princess Kate to skip major U.K. military event in London over 2 months after announcing cancer treatment
-
It's Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving vs. Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown for the NBA crown