Tiona Rodriguez, a 21 year old teen mum has been jailed after going shopping in Victoria’s Secret with the body of her baby which she had killed stuffed in her handbag.
Tiona smothered her newborn after giving birth in a pal’s bathroom in New York at the age of was jailed for 16 years after admitting manslaughter
She then stuffed the body into a bag and brought it along on an outing to browse sexy lingerie.
She was only caught when security guards at the shop noticed a bad smell coming from her bag after suspecting her of shoplifting.
Rodriguez was charged with murder after prosecutors found Facebook messages to a pal in which she callously talked about the tot’s death.
The message read: “Take this s*** and dig a hole, put it somewhere, lol, then we go eat [pancakes].”
Rodriguez took the dead baby with her shopping at Victoria’s Secret, pictured
She had faced life behind bars if convicted at trial.
But she pleaded guilty last month to first-degree manslaughter under extreme emotional disturbance, and was jailed for 16 years.
Before handing down the sentence, Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Thomas Farber said: “This is a horribly sad and tragic case.”
It’s not clear how long the newborn had been alive before his asphyxiation.
But during her January plea, Rodriguez conceded her son had been alive when he was born.
Judge Farber asked: “You admit the baby was born alive?”
Following a prolonged pause, Rodriguez responded: “Yes.”
The dead baby was Rodriguez’s third. She first gave birth at the age of 14, according to her lawyers.
That child now lives with the father.
It was revealed as the case played out that she’d also had a second pregnancy, though it remains unclear whether or not that foetus was carried to term.
Her defence attorney, Julie Rendelmen, previously told reporters: “People look at her and think she’s so evil, but there is so much more to this young woman than these incredibly horrible moments in her life.
“She was feeling incredible pressure and incredible feelings of inadequacy.”
Speaking at the sentencing hearing, prosecutor Chloe Kendall said: “We hope this brings justice to the baby boy who never got to live his life.
