25 Years After She Abandoned Her Baby To Die, Mother Faces Charges Of First-Degree Murder

A mother faces first degree murder charges 25 years after she abandoned her baby to die in a trash can.

50-year-old Sonia S. Charles of New Iberia, Lousiana left her newborn Baby Jane Doe in a trash can outside a car wash in January 1994, USA Today reports.  The coroner said that the baby was alive when the 25-year-old mother abandoned her but died of hypothermia, according to Daily Advertiser archives examined by USA Today.

The coroner also revealed that Baby Jane Doe was sucking her thumb at the time of her death.

After new leads appeared, Iberia Parish Sheriff’s Office’s Detective Scott Hotard re-opened the case. The Acadiana Criminalistics Laboratory developed a DNA profile that ultimately led to Charles’ arrest.

Hotard arrested Charles Wednesday, USA Today reports from a release from sheriff’s Maj. Wendell Raborn said. She is being held in Iberia Parish Jail and faces charges of first-degree murder.

More than 200 people gathered to mourn Baby Jane Doe’s death at a 1994 funeral service, and a memorial service was also held a year after her death.

“It’s important we don’t forget what happened to Baby Doe,” said then-Jeanerette Police Capt. Kerry Davis in Jan. 11, 1995, according to USA Today. “This little girl has no family to mourn her death. We (the department) and the people of Jeanerette have taken her death to heart and I think it’s important we come out and show her we care.”

The Iberia Parish Sheriff’s Office did not yet respond to a request for comment from the Daily Caller News Foundation.