Jennifer Matter left her baby son to die on a Minnesota beach in 2003, prosecutors say. (Mugshot: Goodhue County Sheriff's Office)
A judge sentenced Jennifer Lynn Matter, 51, to prison for abandoning her newborn son to die on a freezing beach.
As previously reported, authorities said she also discarded a baby girl, who was found wrapped in a towel and floating in the water near Red Wing, Minnesota. But they did not charge her for that.
Matter was sentenced to 27 years and two months in prison, with credit for 52 days time served, documents show.
She admitted going to Methodist Beach in Florence Township, Minnesota, on Dec. 6, 2003, according to the plea documents filed in January.
"The beach was isolated, deserted, and dark," she said in documents. "While at Methodist Beach, I gave birth to Infant Male, who was born alive."
Matter said she had hidden her pregnancy from others. She said she put the baby on the sand, near the water's edge, without clothes or a blanket. Evening temperatures at that time of year would usually be around freezing, she said.
After giving birth, she told no one about leaving him on that freezing beach.
"I left Infant Male on the beach, walked away, got into my car, and drove away with no intention of returning," she wrote. Matter admitted knowing he would die exposed like that, without food, shelter, clothes, or protection from the weather and wildlife.
The boy was found dead near the water's edge at 12:52 p.m. on Dec. 7, 2003.
"The autopsy documented that the infant was a full-term newborn male infant who was probably born alive," said the complaint against Matter. "Additional findings noted blunt force head injuries, possibly due to the birth process, including multiple small areas of subgaleal hemorrhage, scant left subdural hemorrhage, and intraparenchymal cerebral hemorrhage. No congenital anomalies were noted, and there were early decomposition changes. The coroner determined that the manner of death was homicide and that the cause of death was undetermined."
She was sentenced for second-degree murder with intent, not premeditated. In exchange for the plea deal, prosecutors agreed to withdraw their motion to seek a punishment above guidelines. Also, they would drop the second charge, which was second-degree murder without intent.
According to documents, Matter had two other children at the time of the 2003 incident, ages 6 and 9. Investigators said she also abandoned a newborn daughter in 1999.
According to the complaint, she said that pregnancy caught her by surprise, and she gave birth in her bathroom. She claimed the baby was born blue, not breathing, and was not crying. Freaking out, she placed the baby in a towel. She estimated a day passed, but she was not sure because she was drinking heavily.
She never told anyone what happened. She drove to Bay Point Park in the middle of the night, put the baby in the water near the boathouse, and walked off, she said in the complaint.
"Matter stated that a few days later that she heard that the baby had been found," documents stated.
