Mother Found Guilty of Killing Her Newborn Son

SANTA ANA — An Orange County Superior Court judge on Wednesday found a Fullerton woman guilty of murdering her newborn son in 1995 and stuffing him in a car trunk, saying the case hinged on a mother’s unique duty to protect and care for her child.

Jackie Anderson, convicted of second-degree murder, had contended that her inability to help her newborn after giving birth to him alone in a bathroom was triggered by a rare pregnancy-related depression. She put her head in her hands and sobbed at the verdict that followed a two-week court trial.

Orange County Superior Court Judge Anthony J. Rackauckas Jr. said he believed the 38-year-old woman was “profoundly disturbed” but also found that she acted with a “wanton disregard of human life.”

The judge also found Anderson guilty of child endangerment for abandoning a newborn girl in 1992 following a similar unattended, at-home birth. That child survived and was adopted.

A medical examiner determined the 5-pound boy was born alive Aug. 11, 1995, in the Fullerton townhome Anderson shared with her mother but died from a lack of appropriate care at delivery.

“The court finds that the defendant had an awareness of her duty to care for the child, and failed to care for the child, there being a high degree of probability that the failure to care would result in a death,” the judge said.

Deputy Dist. Atty Gary Paer called the verdict appropriate, saying the case involved outrageous neglect in which the newborn was allowed to “basically shrivel up and die.”

“This is the type of conduct that society I don’t think is willing to accept,” the prosecutor said. “That’s why the law has established this legal duty where if you give birth to a child, you just can’t ignore it and not take care of it.”

Anderson’s lawyer called the verdict devastating. She called for a law similar to one in England that allows a “presumption of illness” for a mother who, when suffering from depression, harms or kills her infant. Such women face manslaughter charges and treatment, rather than prison, she said.

“It’s just too hard to accept that maternal disorder can be an excuse for behavior,” Deputy Public Defender Vicki Carter Briles said. “It’s just too hard. When are they going to get it?”

Cases involving the killing of an infant shortly after birth and pregnancy-related depression have had mixed results in courts. Sentences for women who have killed hours-old infants have ranged from lengthy prison terms to acquittals to psychiatric treatment.

Legal experts say the wide range of sentences reflects the divisions within the psychological community about pregnancy-related mental disorders and the fiercely protective emotions that the deaths of infants stir.

Anderson faces at least 15 years to life in prison when she is sentenced by Rackauckas on March 28. Briles said she will explore whether Anderson is eligible for probation.

Relatives said they fear for Anderson’s safety if she is sent to prison, and describe her as a new person since she has begun taking antidepressant drugs while in jail.

The trial involved an unusual defense of a pregnancy-related depression that Anderson and her lawyer said contributed to the death.

Anderson contended she was suffering a mental breakdown triggered by a downward spiral of alcoholism and depression that only intensified during her four previous deliveries, the children of which were all adopted or placed with relatives.

During her last two pregnancies, Anderson said she denied to herself and others that she was pregnant. She testified she drank heavily in recent years--sometimes as many as 30 beers daily--to avoid her problems.

Her mother ultimately confronted her during her last pregnancy and she testified she was in the process of arranging medical care through social services when she went into labor. Anderson had recently lost her job as a credit manager and was living in her car before moving in with her mother.

Anderson testified she remembered little about the delivery. She told police she heard the newborn take a few breaths immediately after the delivery, then believed he was dead.