Colorado woman who smothered newborn daughter before hurling her into neighbor's yard to spend life in prison
HIGHLANDS RANCH, COLORADO: A Colorado woman who killed her newborn infant will spend the rest of her life in prison after she was found guilty of first-degree murder of a child under 12 by a person in a position of trust.
The 25-year-old was identified as Camille Wasinger-Konrad from Highlands Ranch. She was accused of leaving her daughter for dead after giving birth to her early in the morning of January 2, 2018, in a bedroom of a home she had rented from another family, according to the 18th Judicial District Attorney's Office.
She allegedly covered the baby's mouth and nose to stop her from crying so she wouldn't wake the others, carried her downstairs to the back deck, and threw her into the backyard of a neighbor.
The infant was only found by the neighbor at 9.48 pm that night, at which point she had been exposed to the elements for more than 15 hours. Despite the intervention of emergency services, the little girl could not be saved.
At her trial, Deputy District Attorney Valerie Brewster told a Douglas County jury, "That little girl was on that deck for 948 minutes. This defendant went about her day, knowing her unnamed daughter was there, helpless. She thought and made that choice."
Since 2000, Colorado has had a Safe Haven Law which enabled parents to hand over their newborn child, up to 72 hours old, to an employee at any fire station or hospital with no questions asked.
"This tiny baby was smothered by her mother, flung over a neighbor's fence and left to die by the only human she had ever know," said Chief Deputy District Attorney Christopher Gallo. "This defendant hurled her newborn 11 feet over an 8-foot fence, knowingly consigning her to her death. This little girl died in the cold without the dignity of even a name."
This past week, the jury found Wasinger-Konrad guilty on three counts: first-degree murder after deliberation, tampering with physical evidence, and the position-of-trust murder.
Speaking after the verdict, District Attorney George Brauchler said, "Of all the many emotions of the magical first moments of a baby's life, of all the many tender moments a mother shared in that first embrace with a completely helpless and fragile life, smothering a newborn and pitching its body over a fence in the cold of January is impossible to understand. Who are we as a people that someone among us has such disregard for the most innocent of lives — a life they helped create? Disgusting."
"It's not only justice for the infant child but also a statement for the Douglas County community in how strongly we believe in the criminal justice system," said Douglas County Sheriff Tony Spurlock. "We are glad to be a part of bringing this person to justice."
Wasinger-Konrad is scheduled to be sentenced on November 15. However, the hearing is just a formality, with the mandatory sentence for a first-degree murder conviction being life in prison without the possibility of parole.