PRINCE GEORGE'S CIRCUIT COURT
Woman Pleads Guilty in Death of Her Newborn
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Tuesday, June 2, 2009
A young Honduran woman who says she became pregnant when she was raped pleaded guilty in Circuit Court yesterday in the death of her newborn daughter, whom she left in a garbage bag in the Hyattsville field where she gave birth last fall.
Wendy J. Villatoro, 26, pleaded guilty at the Upper Marlboro courthouse to child abuse resulting in death. Under the terms of her plea deal, Villatoro faces a maximum sentence of 30 years in prison, though defense attorneys can argue for a lesser sentence. She had been charged with first-degree murder and other offenses.
Prince George's County homicide detectives gave the baby a name: Maria del Pilar. They arranged for her burial after the baby's extended family declined to claim the body.
According to a statement of facts agreed upon by the state and the defense, about midnight Oct. 12, Villatoro walked to the field from her nearby home in the District, where she was living with a man she considered her husband. Villatoro carried a pink towel, a black plastic bag and scissors, Assistant State's Attorney Renee Battle-Brooks said in court.
Villatoro gave birth and used the scissors to cut the umbilical cord. She wrapped the infant in the towel, put her in the garbage bag and walked home, the prosecutor said.
The child was found hours later by a worker who was helping to clear the field of brush. The baby was taken to Children's Hospital in the District, where she was pronounced dead.
Assistant Public Defender Michael D. Beach, who is representing Villatoro, told Circuit Court Judge Cathy H. Serrette that his client became pregnant when she was raped in her native Honduras. Beach said the man Villatoro was living with thought she had been unfaithful, and Villatoro was too ashamed to tell him or anyone else about the rape, Beach said.
Villatoro, dressed in an orange jail jumpsuit, wiped away tears after Battle-Brooks finished reading the statement of facts. During the hearing, Villatoro told Serrette that she understood her plea and is not suffering from mental illness.
Serrette scheduled sentencing for July 29.
