Woman accused of tossing newborn out Bronx window appears in court
MORRIS HEIGHTS, N.Y. (WABC) -- The mother accused of throwing her newborn daughter out of the seventh floor window of a Bronx apartment building appeared in court Monday.
Jennifer Berry was held in jail after being arraigned in the death of her baby girl.
Meanwhile, prosecutors in Westchester County are continuing their review of the case of Berry's infant son who died seven years ago.
At the time, the medical examiner ruled he died of natural causes.
The 2 1/2-week-old boy was found dead in the basement of Berry's home in 2008. The death was attributed to sudden infant death syndrome.
"In light of what has transpired, we will be reviewing that death again," said Lucian Chalfen, a spokesman for Westchester County District Attorney Janet DiFiore.
In her most recent pregnancy, Berry's family and friends didn't even know she was expecting, authorities said. She told them she had miscarried, police said.
The 33-year-old from Yonkers was charged with murder and manslaughter in the girl's death Monday. The baby hadn't been alive long enough to be named, prosecutors said.
When police showed up at the Bronx apartment building in the quiet, residential neighborhood of University Heights on Monday afternoon, they found the girl's body in a garbage-filled alley behind the building.
Berry was questioned for hours by detectives and initially denied she was pregnant before saying she had given birth in the shower, authorities said. She claimed the newborn wasn't breathing when she threw the baby - and the placenta - from the window, police said.
But prosecutors say she knew the baby was alive when she threw her, umbilical cord still attached, into the alley below. The medical examiner said the baby died from blunt force trauma in the fall, meaning she was born alive.
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