BRONX WOMAN INDICTED FOR MANSLAUGHTER FOR
SUFFOCATING HER NEWBORN DAUGHTER
Defendant Allegedly Placed Infant Underneath Clothing in Bag
Bronx District Attorney Darcel D. Clark today announced that a Bronx woman has been indicted for second-degree Manslaughter and Criminally Negligent Homicide in the asphyxiation death of her newborn daughter.
District Attorney Clark said, “A child died within minutes of being born, allegedly by her mother’s callous disregard for the infant’s life.”
District Attorney Clark said Lasasha Browne-Gouldbourne, 31, of the Allerton area of the Bronx, was arraigned today on second-degree Manslaughter and Criminally Negligent Homicide before Bronx Supreme Court Justice Steven Hornstein. The defendant is being held on $100,000 cash/$200,000 bond and is due back in court on April 11, 2024.
According to the investigation, on September 1, 2023, at approximately 3:00 a.m. the defendant arrived at an apartment on Bronx Park East, the Bronx, and gave birth in the bathroom. The defendant was observed holding an infant and the infant was crying. While the apartment resident was calling 911 the defendant left. The witness did not observe the baby with the defendant but stated she was carrying a tote bag. The defendant is observed on surveillance video with a bag and no baby. At approximately 7:00 a.m. the defendant arrived at her mother’s home nearby and when her mother asked if she had any laundry to be done, she handed her mother the bag, and left. When the bag was opened there was a lifeless newborn girl wrapped up in the clothing. The Medical Examiner has determined the cause of death was asphyxia by smothering. The defendant was arrested later on White Plains Road and removed to a hospital, where she gave birth to a boy, twin of the deceased infant.
The case is being prosecuted by Victoria Nuñez, Major Case Assistant District Attorney in the Child Abuse /Sex Crimes Bureau and Astrid Borgstedt, Trial Counsel in the Child Abuse/Sex Crimes Bureau, under the supervision of Mimi Mairs, Chief of the Child Abuse/Sex Crimes Bureau, under the overall supervision of Adrienne Giunta, Deputy Chief of the Special Victims Division, and Joseph Muroff, Chief of the Special Victims Division.
District Attorney Clark thanked Assistant District Attorney Julia Chariott of the Community Justice Bureau and John Vallely, Chief of the Community Justice Bureau and Trial Preparation Assistant Jaquelin Rodriguez Dominguez for their assistance.
District Attorney Clark thanked NYPD Detective Kyle Keiser of the 49th Precinct Detective Squad and NYPD Detective Frankie Soler of Bronx Homicide for their work in the investigation.
An indictment is an accusatory instrument and not proof of a defendant’s guilt.
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