US EditionWoman who killed baby in 1986 sentenced to probation in cold case DNA probe
GREENWICH, CONNECTICUT, JUL 22 – Janita Phillips received probation after pleading guilty to manslaughter; psychological evaluation showed extreme emotional distress at the time, unusual for a child homicide case.
- Janita Phillips, aged 65 from Florida, was sentenced to five years probation in 2025 for killing her newborn son in Greenwich, Connecticut in 1986.
- The investigation stalled for several years but resumed in 2019, and in 2020, advanced DNA analysis connected crime scene evidence to Phillips, resulting in her arrest and subsequent manslaughter plea in 2021.
- Phillips kept her pregnancy a secret from her husband while under intense financial and emotional pressure, and shortly after giving birth, she strangled the infant known as Baby John.
- Judge Gary White described the case as one requiring a balance of justice and compassion, noting that a psychological evaluation found Phillips had been experiencing severe emotional turmoil at the time of the incident.
- Phillips will avoid prison unless she violates probation, in which case she could face up to 20 years in jail, while continuing to care for her disabled son and husband with medical issues.
23 Articles
23 Articles
No jail time for woman who strangled baby to death in Conn. in 1986
A woman who strangled her newborn baby to death in Connecticut in 1986 was sentenced Tuesday to five years of probation and will not serve jail time. Janita Phillips, 65, pleaded guilty earlier this year to first-degree manslaughter for killing her young son, who police named “Baby John,” in 1986 in Greenwich. A psychological evaluation found Phillips was under “extreme emotional distress” when she killed her son, WCBS reported. She and her husb…
Woman who killed baby in CT in 1986 sentenced to probation in cold case DNA probe
By DAVE COLLINS A woman who killed her infant son in 1986 in Connecticut and went on to live a seemingly quiet, normal life with her family in Florida for three decades was sentenced Tuesday to five years of probation. Mother charged with murdering baby found dead in Connecticut in 1986 Janita Phillips, 65, of Lake Mary, Florida, was charged with murder in 2021, after police said new DNA testing linked her to the crime. She pleaded guilty to a l…
Woman Who Killed Baby in 1986 Sentenced to Probation in Cold Case DNA Probe
A woman who killed her infant son in 1986 in Connecticut and went on to live a seemingly quiet, normal life with her family in Florida for three decades was sentenced Tuesday to five years of probation.
Court orders community-based sentence for mother convicted of infanticide
The Labasa High Court has ordered a one-year community-based corrections for a 27-year-old woman found guilty of infanticide. The sentencing, delivered at the Labasa High Court, follows her acquittal on a murder charge for the death of her newborn son on March 14, 2023. The court heard the woman gave birth unexpectedly in a small office. In a disturbed mental state, she inflicted 61 wounds on her newborn using scissors, leading to his death from…
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