Persia Nelson, Schenectady, NY mother leaves baby to die in tunnel now charged with murder after previously reporting 10 month old daughter missing.
A New York mother accused of intentionally leaving her infant daughter ‘inside a utility tunnel structure,’ and reporting her missing, has been charged with murder, authorities announced.
Persia Marie Nelson, 24, was charged with second-degree murder committed with depraved indifference, Schenectady Police Chief Eric Clifford said during a Tuesday press conference.
Authorities were alerted late Saturday evening by personnel at a General Electric facility that there was an alleged ‘female trespasser’ — later identified as Nelson — who ‘didn’t know how she got there,’ Clifford claimed according to the briefing.
Mom ditches baby daughter in 10ft hole
Nelson allegedly indicated that she could not find her child, 10 month old girl, Halo Nelson, which triggered a night-long search that involved state police and forest rangers, Clifford said.
By Sunday morning, police were concerned Halo may have been abducted or exposed to a ‘dangerous situation’ and issued an Amber Alert, Clifford said according to the Daily Gazette.
A search team soon found Halo ‘inside a utility tunnel structure’ on the General Electric campus, Clifford said.
‘The baby was dropped into this utility tunnel from the height of about eight feet to the bottom of the tunnel, where there was standing water,’ Schenectady County District Attorney Robert M. Carney said at the briefing.
‘The baby did not drown,’ he said. ‘The baby was in the water, which came up to her chest and around her head but not to her face.’
Halo reportedly died after being taken to the hospital, authorities said. The girl’s mother was located in a heated building on the General Electric property. She was arrested on Sunday.
‘I’m drunk asf don’t play with me…’
Read a Facebook post the mother posted Saturday night, ‘I’m drunk asf don’t play with me right now lmfaooo.’
It remained unclear if the post was shared prior to or after Nelson abandoning her infant child.
Carney said authorities charged Nelson with manslaughter on Sunday, but following the autopsy report released on Monday, new charges were added.
The autopsy report said Halo died of exposure and hypothermia, according to Carney. On the evening of the mother dropping the 10 month old down the tunnel, temperatures in Schenectady had dipped to below 36 Fahrenheit.
After receiving this report, authorities say they charged Nelson with an additional offense of ‘depraved murder’ — murder in the second degree with ‘depraved indifference to human life’ where the defendant allegedly ‘recklessly’ engages in conduct causing the death or serious injury of someone less than 11-year-old, per Carney’s statement.
Nelson pleaded not guilty to the initial manslaughter charge, online court records show.
Of note, Nelson does have one other child, but they are with their biological father.
Not immediately clear is what led to mother leaving her 10 month old daughter leaving her daughter to die in the tunnel.
