Minnesota woman who left newborn to die sentenced to prison
May 1, 2023
RED WING, Minn. (AP) — A Minnesota woman who admitted to leaving her newborn son to die near the Mississippi River two decades ago has been sentenced to 27 years in prison.
Jennifer Matter, of Belvidere Township outside Red Wing, was sentenced Friday for second-degree murder, KARE-TV reported. She pleaded guilty in January to leaving the baby on the banks of the river in 2003.
She was not arrested until May 10, 2022, after DNA evidence tied her to the boy, authorities said.
Prosecutors have said the DNA evidence also links Matter to a baby girl found dead by the Mississippi in 1999 but she has not been charged in that case.
According to the criminal complaint, Matter said she hoped someone would find the baby boy alive after she left him.
Teenagers found the child’s body on Dec. 7, 2003, in Frontenac on the shore of Lake Pepin, a body of water on the Mississippi River.
