Woman pleads guilty for leaving newborn to die in Minnesota in 2003

RED WING, Minn. — A woman in Minnesota has reportedly pleaded guilty Wednesday to leaving her newborn baby boy by the Mississippi River in 2003.

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Jennifer Matter, 50, reportedly pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in the newborn baby’s death in 2003, according to The Associated Press. Matter was arrested on May 10, 2022, at her house in Belvidere Township, Minnesota.

A group of teenagers on Dec. 7, 2003, told police that they found the baby while driving through a parking lot in Goodhue County, according to court seconds obtained by KMSP. The baby’s umbilical cord was reportedly attached and wrapped around the middle of his body.

The coroner said that the baby died of homicide, according to KMSP. His cause of death was undetermined.

Matter allegedly said that she hoped someone who lived in the area where she left the baby would find him alive, according to the criminal complaint obtained by the AP.

According to the AP, prosecutors claim that DNA evidence also linked Matter to a baby girl who was found dead by the Mississippi River in 1999 but she has not been charged in connection with that case.

Investigators said that DNA samples of both babies were tied to Matter by a genealogy search which led investigators to possible relatives in Goodhue County, according to the AP.

Matter is expected to be sentenced on April 28, according to the AP. She could face a maximum of 27 years behind bars, according to KMSP.

No further information has been released.

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