Baby found dead in Catawba River 31 years ago. Her mother faces murder trial this week
A mother charged with the murder of her newborn baby 31 years ago will face a jury trial this week in York County court.
The newborn baby girl was found dead in the Catawba River between Rock Hill and Fort Mill in 1992. But the case went cold, without identification of the baby or an arrest until August 2021, when York County Sheriff Kevin Tolson announced the arrest of Stacy Michelle Rabon.
DNA linked the mother and baby, Tolson said in a news conference and written statement at the time. The deceased baby was found in 1992, floating in the river wrapped in a sheet inside a plastic grocery bag, Tolson said.
Tolson said a national database showed DNA from Rabon’s arrest from a drug charge in 2019 matched DNA from the baby.
Now, Rabon, 50, is scheduled to face a jury trial starting Monday on charges of murder and homicide by child abuse, according to online York County court records and scheduling records from the York County Clerk of Court public website.
The arrest warrant for homicide by child abuse against Rabon states that around Aug. 12, 1992, Rabon caused the death of her newborn infant daughter through “abandonment,” and the “death occurred under circumstances manifesting an extreme indifference to human life.”
The warrant states deputies based probable cause to arrest Rabon on “investigation, recovery of the baby and other physical evidence, forensic testing, and statements of the defendant.”
Court records also show Rabon was indicted for murder in May.
Prosecutors with the 16th Circuit Solicitor’s Office confirmed the case is scheduled for trial this week, but declined comment on the pending trial. The case is set to be prosecuted by Deputy Solicitor John Anthony and Senior Solicitor Leslie Robinson.
Rabon’s defense lawyer, Phil Smith of the 16th Circuit Public Defender Office, declined comment on the case or upcoming trial.
Two years pending trial
Rabon has not been convicted of any crime connected to the baby case, court records show.
She been in jail in York County ever since arrest and without bail, sheriff’s office jail records show. In two separate court hearings since, Rabon sought bail, but a judge denied her release pending trial, court records examined by The Herald show.
The 1992 death
A swimmer found the deceased red-haired baby on Aug. 12, 1992 near the Catawba River Bridge that runs parallel to U.S. 21 east of Interstate 77, Tolson said in 2021.
When found in 1992, the infant was hours old, Tolson said.
“The baby had stab wounds, but the coroner’s report determined that death was the result of suffocation, and not drowning or the stabbings,” a statement released by the sheriff’s office in 2021 stated.
In 1992, the baby was buried in a grave in Rock Hill marked “Angel Hope.”
The trial
York County Circuit Court Judge Bill McKinnon is expected to preside over the trial.
For anyone to be convicted at trial, all 12 jurors must unanimously agree to convict, South Carolina law states.
Rabon faces 30 years to life if convicted of murder under South Carolina law. A conviction for homicide by child abuse carries 20 years to life.
Court is scheduled to start Monday at the Moss Justice Center in York.
