Crime & Safety

Evidence Supports Murder Charge Against Mom, Judge Rules

Wayne resident gave birth in 2009 to a baby later found dead in a garbage bag outside her home a few days later, authorities say.

A judge on Monday found there is sufficient evidence to support a first-degree murder charge against a Wayne woman accused of suffocating her infant shortly after it was born in 2009, according to NorthJersey.com.

Keri Barry, then 22, gave birth to a full-term baby Dec. 11, 2009 at her Wayne home. Barry’s family took her to Chilton Hospital in Pequannock where hospital staff realized she had given birth. The family was concerned about the baby, who could not be located. Barry never informed either her family or hospital staff that she had given birth.

The Wayne Police Department searched Barry’s home and collected garbage bags where the afterbirth was alleged to have been placed. The baby was found in one of the plastic garbage bags during an examination of the evidence at police headquarters a few days later. An autopsy determined the baby died of asphyxiation.

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Citing instant messages, Passaic County Senior Assistant Prosecutor Robert Pringle argued Barry was aware she was pregnant months before the baby was born and that she didn’t want the baby, NorthJersey.com reported.

Barry was indicted on charges of first-degree murder, endangering the welfare of a child, and hindering apprehension in April 2011 and April 2010.

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The murder charge carries a potential life sentence.

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