A woman from Detroit pleaded guilty to second-degree murder Wednesday after she gave birth to a son in a bathroom stall at her workplace and then left him in a plastic bag in her office desk, according to the Wayne County Prosecutor's Office, reported Detroit News.
Kimberley Pappas, 26, was placed under arrest and charged earlier this year after her co-workers saw blood in the bathroom stall of her Redford Township workplace and called 911, as HNGN previously reported.
Initially, Pappas told authorities she had suffered a miscarriage, but an autopsy revealed the baby was alive for 20 to 30 minutes before dying of suffocation in the plastic bag and his death was ruled a homicide.
Pappas' lawyer, Raymond Cassar, said his client had no intention to kill the baby and she was under the impression that the infant was stillborn and failed to call for help, a decision she regrets. "It was not an intentional act," said Cassar, according to the Detroit Free Press.
Cassar also argued that his client had been suffering from "serious mental health issues," but she was found to be criminally responsible and mentally competent to face charges.
Pappas is facing a prison sentence of nine to 20 years. She had been charged with first-degree premeditated murder, felony murder and first-degree child abuse, and faced life in prison without the possibility of parole if convicted. The hearing for her sentencing is scheduled for Oct. 26 at the Wayne County Circuit Court.
