Woman studying to become Catholic nun charged with murder of baby
A newborn baby who’s mother is HIV positive is checked by a nurse before being given antiretroviral drugs.
A 26-year-old woman studying to become a Catholic nun in Washington D.C. has been charged with murdering her newborn son, various reports said Friday.
Sosefina Amoa gave birth to the boy on Oct. 10 at the Little Sisters of the Poor elderly care facility, five days after arriving in the United States from the Pacific island nation of Samoa.
She was charged Wednesday with first-degree murder after allegedly smothering the baby – called Joseph — with a wool garment.
Amoa told police that she hadn’t informed the convent about her previous sexual activity, and that neither she nor the nuns knew she was pregnant.
She allegedly killed the baby so the nuns in the convent wouldn’t discover his birth.
The following day, Amoa, with the help of a nun, took the baby to a hospital in a suitcase.
“We all feel that this is a tragic situation," Sister Constance Veit, communications director of Little Sisters of the Poor, was quoted as saying.
Amoa is in custody and is due to appear in court on Oct. 23.