Katarina Jovanovic Porsche lawyer in Germany, sentenced to jail after throwing her newborn out the window cause child did not fit into life plans and feared baby would get in the way of her career aspirations.
A 28 year old mother in Germany has been sentenced to 7 and a half years jail after she was found guilty of ‘manslaughter’ after throwing her newborn baby daughter out the window minutes after she was born on account of fearing the child’s existence would preempt her ascent as a corporate executive.
Katarina Jovanovic, 28, from Lauffen am Neckar, Baden-Wuerttemberg State, Germany, and a lawyer for luxury car maker, Porsche in their financial services department, was found guilty of manslaughter at the Heilbronn District Court on Wednesday, July 3.
Judges heard how she had given birth at home in secret 10 months ago on September 12, 2023 and then ‘dropped’ her baby daughter from her apartment window almost 12 feet onto the asphalt tarmac below.
‘Could no longer remember exactly what happened’
Horrified passersby found the minutes-old infant’s body with a shattered skull underneath Jovanovic’s balcony and called the police. The child’s death was determined to be caused by traumatic brain injury after being thrown out the window by her lawyer mother.
Jovanovic admitted to the crime at the beginning of the trial in April but could not explain the moment to the court, stating that she ‘could no longer remember exactly what happened,’ Germany’s BILD reported.
She also claimed she had not realised she was pregnant. But the prosecution accused her of murder and of deliberately concealing her pregnancy from colleagues and neighbours over concerns the child’s existence did not fit with her ‘life plans,’ Germany’s SWR reported.
Prosecutors told the court that Jovanovic thought being a mother would spoil her career as an executive in Porsche‘s legal department.
Spontaneous act?
Public prosecutor Mareike Hafendoerfer said: ‘The accused was not prepared to put her life plans, especially her professional advancement, on hold for a child.
‘That was her decision when the baby was born, and as a result, the criteria for a murder conviction are fulfilled.’
Jovanovic’s lawyers claimed that it was at most manslaughter as she had accidentally dropped the baby from her hands after giving birth alone at home without realising she had been pregnant.
Defence attorney Malte Hoech, 53, said: ‘It is a drama that affects me personally. My client did not even know that she was pregnant.
‘When she suddenly held the bloody baby in her hands, she was in an exceptional psychological situation.
‘It was an accident, she dropped the baby. How the child ended up over the windowsill remains to be determined.’
Nevertheless presiding judges countered claims that the 28 year old was unaware of her pregnancy, citing internet searches and Jovanovic’s overriding preoccupation with the child’s impending birth.
In the end, the court accepted the lesser charge of manslaughter but jailed her for seven and a half years, which was more than the three years the defence had demanded. The prosecution had called for a life sentence arguing the child’s death had been intentional.
‘The defendant acted with an unconditional desire for destruction. She was not prepared to give up her enjoyment of life,’ prosecutors claimed.
In making their decision, the presiding judge described the child’s death a terrible event. A mother who was supposed to protect her baby after birth had killed it, said the judge. The court nevertheless was convinced that it was not a planned murder, but a spontaneous act.
Jovanovic’s legal team said they plan to appeal the verdict.
According to the defense, the defendant had repressed the pregnancy and was traumatized. A psychiatric expert from the Weinsberg Clinic at Weissenhof (Heilbronn district), however, considered the woman to be fully responsible.
Neighbours told local media how they had no idea Jovanovic was expecting a baby.
One said: ‘Nobody noticed that the woman was pregnant. Recently she had changed and was no longer talking to us.
‘We thought she was stressed at work.’
While others on social media wondered why the mother hadn’t sought to have the newborn adopted or anonymously leave the child at a safe haven facility, where newborns can be left at a designated facility, such as church or hospital or police station within hours of birth and without legal repercussions.
