NRL News
202.626.8824
dadandrusk@aol.com

Mother accused of murder after allegedly setting newborn baby on fire

Jan 21, 2015

 

By Dave Andrusko

Family members were in court Tuesday  (Photo: Ed Hille, AP)

Family members were in court Tuesday
(Photo: Ed Hille, AP)

This is such a horrific story, this post will include only as many of the ghastly details as necessary.

The Courier-Post (NJ) reported today that 22-year-old Hyphernkemberly Dorvilier is being held on $500,000 bail after police said she gave birth Friday to a baby girl in an isolated rural road and then set the baby on fire. She is being charged with murder.

Jim Walsh reported

The baby, wrapped in a ‘smoldering towel and papers,’ was flown to a Philadelphia hospital, where she died shortly after 1 a.m. Medical records showed the baby had third-degree burns on about 60 percent of her body.

Court records suggest Dorvilier gave birth at her home, which is about a mile and a half from where the baby was killed, by herself in a ground-floor bathroom. According to Walsh, family members told a pastor they did not know Dorvilier was pregnant and were unaware of the baby’s birth.

The baby’s umbilical cord was still attached.

According to a police statement, David Joseph, a neighbor, encountered Dorvilier when he saw a blaze near a parked vehicle. According to Walsh, Joseph

told police Dorvilier was standing near the flames with a container of accelerant in her hand. Dorvilier, who told Joseph she was burning dog waste, poured a bottle of water onto the flames at his request.

“At that point the baby began crying from under the towels and papers, which were on fire,” the report said. Dorvilier tried to flee, leading Joseph to tackle her while his wife, Tara, called police. A third neighbor grabbed the keys from the ignition of Dorvilier’s Land Rover.

Dorvilier, who is charged with murder, had a lighter in her pocket, the statement said.

Click here to read the December issue of
National Right to Life News,
the “pro-life newspaper of record.”

The Philadelphia Inquirer reported that Dorvilier appeared via video for her first hearing Tuesday afternoon in Superior Court in Mount Holly. She answered most of Judge Philip E. Haines’ questions with, “Yes, your honor.”

Haines “agreed with a prosecutor’s recommendation that Dorvilier’s bail remain at $500,000 and that she not be released even if posting it without a psychiatric evaluation,” according to the Inquirer.

Pastor Richard Esher of Browns Mills United Methodist Church, who spoke with relatives, told the Inquirer that Dorvilier’s mother had named the slain baby Angelica.

“This family is devastated and in so much pain and confusion,” said Esher, whose 300-seat church will host a candlelight vigil for the baby at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday.

Please join those who are following me on Twitter at twitter.com/daveha. Send your comments to daveandrusko@gmail.com.

Categories: Crime