A Minnesota woman pleaded guilty Wednesday to leaving her newborn baby to die on the banks of the Mississippi River in 2003.
Jennifer Lynn Matter, 50, filed a petition to plead guilty in Goodhue County Court to second-degree murder with intent but not premeditated after giving birth to a baby alone and leaving him by the water, reports FOX 9.
“I didn’t tell anyone about my pregnancy and hid it. After giving birth to [the baby]I did not tell anyone about the boy’s existence or that he was located on an isolated beach,” Matter said in the plea agreement.
The criminal complaint says that on December 7, 2003, police were called after a group of teenagers found the baby while driving through the Methodist Beach parking lot in Goodhue County.
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This stock photo provided by the Goodhue County, Minnesota, Sheriff’s Office shows Jennifer Matter. Matter admitted in a guilty plea on Wednesday, Jan. 25, 2023, that she left her newborn baby to die on the banks of the Mississippi River in 2003. She pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in the baby’s death. She will be sentenced on April 28. Matter was arrested on May 10, 2022 at her home in Belvidere Township outside of Red Wing. (Goodhue County Sheriff’s Office via AP, File)
(Goodhue County Sheriff’s Office via AP, File)
The baby lay on the bank of the Mississippi River with its umbilical cord tied and wrapped around the middle of its body. The coroner determined that the baby died by homicide, but the cause of death was not determined, according to the charges.
“I left [the baby] at the beach, I drove away, got in my car and drove away with no intention of coming back,” Matter said in the plea agreement.
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A Minnesota woman admitted in a guilty plea Wednesday that she left her newborn baby to die on the banks of the Mississippi River in 2003.
(FoxNews)
Matter was arrested on May 10, 2022 at her home in Belvidere Township outside of Red Wing and charged with two counts of second degree murder in the death of her son. She will be sentenced on April 28 and faces 27 years behind bars.
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Court documents state that a newborn girl was found dead on November 4, 1999, in the lower Mississippi River boat harbor near Red Wing. Investigators determined through DNA that she was also Matter’s daughter, but no charges have been filed in connection with that incident as of yet, according to FOX 9.
Associated Press contributed to this report.
