According to a report, a Florida woman who had abandoned her baby girl in a dumpster in 2019 has pleaded guilty. She was sentenced to seven years imprisonment and could be deported.
Rafaelle Sousa, who also has a 3-year-old son, told cops that she didn’t know she was pregnant and panicked after the infant hit its head on a toilet seat during the surprise delivery, according to the Palm Beach Post.
Sousa, 38, said she thought the child was dead because it turned blue and wasn’t breathing.
The native of Brazil, who was losing blood herself, then put a plastic bag over the baby’s head, put it in another trash bag and placed it in a dumpster in her West Palm Beach County apartment complex.
Maintenance workers heard her cry and eventually found the baby in the bin.
The girl, named Sarah, has now been taken in — along with the son — by Sousa’s boyfriend.
Sousa’s attorney J. Samantha Vacciana told the outlet that her client, who couldn’t write, read or speak English, was under severe duress when she made the decision.
“People look at her and think they see this monster,” the lawyer said. “What they’re looking at is someone who had a severe traumatic experience that caused them to have an even more severe mental break.
“Being poor and unsophisticated sometimes is a crime.”
Sousa is not an American citizen and could be deported as part the deal.
:quality(70)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/cmg/GZ2HANQM5JDELIAATGKNCI5KO4.png "‘Shock and pain:’ Husband of Duxbury mother charged in children’s deaths gives statement – Boston 25 News 14")
