Red Wing woman admits leaving newborn son to die on banks of Mississippi River in 2003

RED WING, Minn. — A Minnesota lady admitted in a responsible plea Wednesday that she left her new child son to die on the banks of the Mississippi River in 2003.

Jennifer Matter, 50, pleaded responsible to second-degree homicide within the child’s dying. She will likely be sentenced April 28.

Matter was arrested Might 10, 2022, at her residence in Belvidere Township exterior Purple Wing.

Prosecutors have mentioned DNA proof additionally hyperlinks Matter to a new child lady discovered useless within the Mississippi in Purple Wing in 1999. Matter has not been charged in that case, and she or he advised investigators that the lady was not respiratory when she was born.

Youngsters discovered the child boy’s physique on Dec. 7, 2003, in Frontenac on the shore of Lake Pepin, the place the Mississippi River widens.

Health workers decided the child’s dying was a murder, however his reason behind dying was undetermined.

“I left (the child) on the seashore, walked away, bought into my automotive, and drove away with no intention of returning,” Matter mentioned within the plea settlement.

In accordance with the felony criticism, Matter mentioned she hoped somebody who lived close by would discover him alive. In each abandomnents, Matter advised investigators that her life was in turmoil as she struggled with alcohol use and troubles with the legislation.

Investigators mentioned DNA samples linked each infants to Matter by a family tree search that led to potential kinfolk in Goodhue County.

In March 2007, a 3rd toddler was discovered useless within the Mississippi close to the Treasure Island on line casino and resort in Welch. DNA testing on the time indicated that new child lady was not associated to the opposite two infants, officers mentioned.

All three infants are buried collectively in Purple Wing’s Oakwood Cemetery, after a neighborhood couple, Don and Jeanne Madtson, donated the graves and a tombstone of their household plot.

Underneath Minnesota’s Secure Place for Newborns legislation, enacted in 2000, a mom or quick member of the family of a new child can place the unhurt baby into the arms of a hospital worker on hospital grounds with full anonymity throughout the first three days of the kid’s life.