Maryland woman found guilty of suffocating newborn in zipped plastic bag after home birth
04/28/2022 12:29 pm PDT
COLUMBIA, Md. (TCD) -- A 41-year-old mother was recently found guilty of second-degree murder and first-degree child abuse involving the suffocation death of her child in 2018.
According to a news release from the Office of the State’s Attorney for Howard County, on Nov. 1, 2018, officers from the Howard County Police Department responded to a hospital after Moira Akers was transported there via ambulance. Akers had reportedly failed to tell medical staff that she had just given birth at home.
According to the State Attorney’s Office, investigators conducted a search of Akers’ home and found a deceased newborn male in a zipped plastic bag under a blanket in a closed-door closet. Akers told authorities the infant was stillborn.
According to the State Attorney’s Office, an autopsy was performed on Nov. 2, 2018, and the report revealed that the baby was born full-term and healthy, and he died due to asphyxiation and exposure. The death was ruled a homicide.
On April 27, the State Attorney’s Office says Akers was found guilty by a Howard County Circuit Court jury. She is scheduled to be sentenced on July 29 and could face up to life in prison.
In a statement, State’s Attorney Rich Gibson said, "This was truly one of the most difficult cases my office has ever had to prosecute because we had the burden of proving the baby was born alive."
Gibson added, "Thanks to the great work of HCPD detectives, our prosecutors, the Office of Chief Medical Examiner and other experts, we were able to prove to a jury that the egregious and unconscionable actions of Ms. Akers ultimately led to the murder of her own child. After three and half years of working on this case, we are grateful the jury found Ms. Akers guilty of this heinous crime and we were able to obtain justice for Baby Akers."
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