Mom 'dressed' newborn before abandoning him outside in grocery bag to die

Inset: Pamela Ferreyra (Monterey County District Attorney's Office). Background: The area where Ferreyra's newborn was found dead (Google Maps).

A California mother will spend more than a decade in prison for the death of her newborn son, whom she stuffed in a grocery bag and abandoned outside to die after keeping the birth hidden from her husband and other children.

A Monterey County judge on Wednesday ordered Pamela Ferreyra to serve 13 years and four months in a state correctional facility for killing the infant, who became known as "Baby Garin."

Ferreyra's sentence came after she reached a deal with the district attorney's office and pleaded guilty to one count of voluntary manslaughter and one count of felony child abuse in the boy's December 1994 death. She also admitted to causing "great bodily injury" to her son in commission of those crimes.

According to a news release from the Monterey County District Attorney's Office, the "partial remains of a 2-to-3-day-old baby" were discovered off Garin Road in Prunedale, which is 90 miles southeast of San Francisco.

"An autopsy confirmed that the child was born alive, outside of a hospital setting, and that he had not been fed for approximately 24 hours prior to his death," the release states.

A man collecting cans in the area discovered the boy's body, local NBC affiliate KSBW reported.

Investigators could not determine the child's cause of death, and no missing person report had been filed. Despite a thorough investigation by the county sheriff's office, authorities could not find a viable lead in identifying the boy's parents.

A cold case task force established by the DA's office in 2020 reexamined the case in 2024, sending samples of the victim's DNA for further testing. Those tests revealed that Ferreyra was the mother.

In a subsequent interview with detectives, prosecutors said Ferreyra admitted to abandoning the boy.

"Ferreyra told the investigators that she hid her pregnancy from everyone around her, including her husband and children," prosecutors wrote. "She admitted [the baby] was born alive in her home. After he was born, Ferreyra said she dressed him, put him in her car, drove him to the remote Prunedale location, and left him there. She never returned to the location or investigated what happened to [the victim]."

The DA's office said Ferreyra's guilty plea marked the 10th conviction for a cold case murder since prosecutors established the task force.