Infanticide, the killing of a newborn, it's one of the most aberrant act in all nature and even more so when it's done by the mother of that child. But that's just what police say a young immigrant mother did over the Easter. Police today charged 20-year-old naturalized Belizean Maritza Gonzalez for intentionally killing her newborn baby and then discarding the body miles away on an isolated feeder road. Gonzalez, a resident of Ontario Village who lives in the city was today charged for manslaughter and concealing the body of a child. Keith Swift picks up the story from mile 6 and half on the Northern Highway.
Keith SwiftReporting,
It is in this small hole, which is about three feet deep, that police found what appeared to be the remains of a small child. The makeshift burial site was in this cleared area of mangroves. It is just off this feeder road, about 150 yards in from mile 6 ½ on the Northern Highway.
Police say the remains were found in a box which was wrapped in a black plastic bag. Today on the scene we found a towel, a black plastic bag, and a box. Police say the body belonged to a baby boy who was born alive during the Easter weekend.
ASP Chester Williams, C.I.B. Commander
“We received information that sometime during the Easter holiday, Miss Gonzalez gave birth to a child and after having given birth to the child, she left the child to die and thereafter, with the assistance of some others, went up to mile 6 ½ on the Northern Highway where they disposed of the body of the child.
In the hole we recovered the corpse of the child, already decomposed, the bones and everything was there wrapped in a box and a black plastic bag. Dr. Estradabran conducted a post mortem on the body of the child, on the spot, and concluded that indicate the corpse was that of a child. The investigation also revealed that the child was born alive and the mother, as I mentioned earlier, left the child to die. The investigation reveals that that was not done any at all. The mother made no effort to seek medical attention for herself or the child.
Keith Swift,
What kind of medical attention did the child need?
ASP Chester Williams,
“Well if a child is born, obviously they must have a midwife or a doctor who are experts in these sorts of things to ensure that the proper procedures would have been taken with the child for the existence of the child. You have several things on the child that ought to have been removed after being born and the fact that the child was born alive and she did not give the child the
opportunity to live but instead wait for the child to die and then dispose of the body, that in itself contributes to the crime of manslaughter. It could have been murder but we did not go that way because proving intent to kill is something difficult to do so instead we went with the charge of manslaughter.
Keith Swift,
So she just negligently left her child to die?
ASP Chester Williams,
“I wouldn’t really say negligently but she intentionally left her child to die.
But the one question that hasn’t been answered is the most important one: why would a mother discard her newborn and why here.
Gonzalez was arraigned in court this afternoon and was offered and met bail in the sum of $5,000. She is to reappear in court on June 15th. Gonzalez is defended by attorney Hubert Elrington. Police are tonight looking for Gonzalez's sister to charge her for aiding and abetting. Gonzalez is a naturalized Belizean originally from Guatemala and she was working as a waitress.
