A German woman has been sentenced to seven and a half years in prison for manslaughter after throwing her newborn daughter out of a window last year.
Katarina Jovanovic, 28, of Baden-Wuerttemberg, was convicted Wednesday at the Heilbronn District Court, as reported by Daily Mail.
According to prosecutors, Jovanovic had secretly given birth at home on September 12, and then dropped her newborn daughter from her apartment window, at a height of nearly 12 feet. A passerby found the baby with a shattered skull on the asphalt and immediately alerted the police. The child succumbed to its injuries.
Jovanovic Told the Court She Didn’t Know She was Pregnant, Baby Dropped Accidentally Out of Shock
At the beginning of the trial in April, Jovanovic confessed to the crime, but could not explain her motives. She claimed she didn’t know she was pregnant. The defense argued that the defendant didn’t know she was pregnant and panicked once she gave birth.
“It is a drama that affects me personally. My client did not even know she was pregnant,” defense attorney Malte Hoech told the court. “When she suddenly held the 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.”
Prosecutors Argued Jovanovic Did Not Want to Jeopardize Her Career
Jovanovic had become an executive at Porsche, and prosecutors argued that she feared being a new mother would jeopardize her career, the court heard.
“The accused was not prepared to put her life plans, especially her professional advancement, on hold for a child,” prosecutors reportedly said. “That was her decision when the baby was born, and as a result, the criteria for a murder conviction are fulfilled.”
Although the prosecution pushed for murder charges, the court ruled in favor of the lesser charge of manslaughter. Her lawyers, who pushed for a sentence of three years behind bars, said they intend to appeal the decision.
