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Mum 'kills baby by putting him in fridge'

Police allege a woman in South Carolina killed her newborn son by putting him in a refrigerator.

A South Carolina mother has killed her four-day-old-son by putting him in the refrigerator for three hours, authorities say.

Angela Blackwell is charged with homicide by child abuse.

During a brief court appearance on Tuesday, the judge explained that because of the severity of the charges no bail could be set at this initial hearing.

She only nodded and shook her head, leaving the small courtroom after a few minutes without a sound.

Blackwell, 27, was arrested on Monday, nearly six months after her son died. Investigators said they have spent that time taking statements and getting forensic tests done on the baby.

An autopsy showed that the boy, William David Blackwell, died from hypothermia with asphyxiation from being placed in the cold, according to Chester County Coroner Terry Tinker. First-responders tried to revive him on February 27, but he was pronounced dead at a hospital.

The baby's grandfather, Billy Lewis, told reporters gathered at his home that Blackwell was sad around the time of her baby's birth, but appeared to be cheered up after her son was born.

``She didn't do it. We don't know who did it, but she didn't do it,'' said Lewis, who added there were other people in the home, but wouldn't speculate on how the baby might have ended up in the refrigerator.

According to an online obituary for her infant son, Blackwell has another child. A Facebook profile that appears to belong to Blackwell shows her posing with a toddler and a newborn in photos posted the day after William's birth.

The boy's father, who is not charged in connection to his death, has a lengthy arrest record. Jeffery Paul Lewis, 35, has theft convictions in South Carolina dating back to 2005 and served more than two years in prison after a probation violation, Corrections Department spokeswoman Stephanie Givens said.


2 min read

Published

Source: AAP



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