Mom who gave birth into toilet has manslaughter conviction reversed by Missouri court
Missouri judges on Tuesday overturned the conviction of a Missouri woman accused of giving birth in a toilet and putting the newborn baby into the trunk of a broken-down car, according to documents obtained by McClatchy.
A Johnson County, Missouri, jury convicted Emily Usnick, 43, of involuntary manslaughter in the death of the baby girl named Hannah. Usnick was accused of putting the baby in a plastic bag and enclosing her in a container after the birth in January 2009.
Two weeks later, officers found the dead baby in the car while conducting a search warrant in an unrelated meth investigation, prosecutors said.
During their investigation, Usnick told investigators she had smoked meth and marijuana the night before giving birth on the toilet in her St. Elizabeth, Missouri, home, according to documents. Several minutes after giving birth on the toilet, she stood up and pulled the newborn from the water, Usnick told police in a statement. Usnick held the baby against her chest for a minute and realized the baby wasn’t breathing or moving, according to her statement.
“I sat on the stool and just looked at her,” Usnick told police. “She was so beautiful. I really hate that things turned out this way.”
During her trial, which was moved to Johnson County, Usnick testified that she didn’t seek medical attention because her car was broken down and she didn’t have minutes on her cell phone to call for help, according to court documents. However, prosecutors showed Usnick sent several text messages the day of the birth. An ambulance station also was located less than a mile away, according to documents.
Prosecutors argued that Usnick recklessly caused the baby’s death by failing to secure medical attention and enclosing her in a plastic bag and container. They said the baby girl died from hypoxia, a general term for deficiency of oxygen.
Usnick’s attorney’s asked for acquittal, arguing that prosecutors failed to prove how the baby died, according to documents.
The jury convicted Usnick, and she was sentenced to five years in prison.
On Tuesday, the Missouri appeals court in Kansas City reversed the conviction. Judges ruled that prosecutors failed to show enough evidence that Usnick caused the baby’s death.
The appeals court ruled that having a medically unattended birth “cannot support criminal prosecution for the death of the baby” and that prosecutors failed to present evidence that Usnick’s baby could have survived with medical assistance.
The appeals court also said prosecutors didn’t present evidence that enclosing the baby in a plastic bag and container was a possible cause of death.
Usnick’s attorneys during the appeal argued that “Emily’s unattended birth was not recklessness; it was beyond her control,” according to a brief obtained by The Mexico Ledger.
Usnick will not go free, however, because she will continue serving a five-year sentence for drug possession, the Missouri newspaper reported.
This story was originally published June 18, 2019 at 1:56 PM with the headline "Mom who gave birth into toilet has manslaughter conviction reversed by Missouri court."