Woman charged in death of baby at Hiram College pleads guilty to involuntary manslaughter
A Cleveland woman charged with aggravated murder after her newborn was found in a trash bag at Hiram College in late 2019 has pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter.
Portage County Prosecutor Victor Vigluicci said that 21-year-old Breyona R. Reddick's plea on Friday was part of a negotiated deal, with a maximum sentence of 11 years in prison. Reddick's sentencing is pending a pre-sentencing investigation and a report by the court's adult probation department.
"It's obviously a difficult case from many perspectives," said Vigluicci.
A jury trial in the case had been scheduled to begin April 19.
Reddick's attorneys could not immediately be reached for comment.
More: Woman accused of killing baby pleads not guilty
The baby boy was found in a clear trash bag that was tied shut and left on the floor of a women's bathroom in Whitcomb Hall, a Hiram College dormitory, during the late morning Oct. 18, 2019, according to Hiram police. The umbilical cord was still attached.
Reddick was identified as the mother through DNA evidence.
According to the college, Reddick had been a student earlier in the school year, but was not a student at the time her baby was found.
Portage County Coroner Dean DePerro ruled the baby boy's death a homicide, based on a Cuyahoga County Medical Examiner's Office examination that determined he died of asphyxiation due to exposure and postpartum inattention, as well as facts and circumstances surrounding the death. It was also determined the baby was likely born that day and was alive no more than an hour.
Vigluicci said the question of whether the baby was born alive or was stillborn was expected to be the subject of testimony during the trial.
"That obviously has bearing on the criminal culpability," he said. "We were prepared to call experts to prove that the child was born alive and the defense was going to call experts to claim the child was stillborn. So there were issues."
There was a private service for the boy the following month and he was buried.
A grand jury indicted Reddick on charges of aggravated murder and three counts of murder, as well as single counts of assault and child endangerment, , tampering with evidence and gross abuse of a corpse due to the infant being placed into a trash bag that was tied shut.
The aggravated murder charge specified that the victim was under the age of 13 while one of the murder charges specified that the offense was committed in conjunction with felony assault and the other with felony child endangerment.
As part of the plea deal, the murder charge was amended down to a felony involuntary manslaughter charge, Vigluicci said. Prosecutors also have agreed not to prosecute Reddick on the remaining charges.
Reporter Jeff Saunders can be reached at jsaunders@recordpub.com.
This article originally appeared on Record-Courier: Woman charged in death of baby at Hiram College pleads guilty
