Mother pleads guilty to manslaughter in deaths of 3 newborns in Sainte-Marthe-sur-le-Lac, Que.
Woman, 28, was arrested in 2017 after provincial police found infants' remains at her home
A 28-year-old woman charged with three counts of first-degree murder for the deaths of three of her newborn children has pleaded guilty to the lesser charge of manslaughter in a Saint-Jérôme, Que., courthouse.
The woman, who can't be named to protect the identity of a surviving child, was arrested in 2017. Police were contacted after the woman showed up at a hospital in a state of distress.
Police investigators found the remains of three newborn infants at the woman's home in Sainte-Marthe-sur-le-Lac.
Authorities alleged the first death occurred on Dec. 3, 2014, followed by two more deaths in February and October of 2017.
The deaths were not due to miscarriages or other issues related to her pregnancies, according to initial reports by police.
Crown Prosecutor Caroline Lafleur brought the new charges forward Wednesday morning.
"We made the decision to file the new charges following the criminal investigation, to conform to the evidence we had," Lafleur said.
Along with one count of manslaughter, the woman pleaded guilty Wednesday to two counts of concealing the body of a child and one count of failing to provide the necessaries of life — a charge that relates to the child who is still alive, Lafleur explained.
The court has ordered the woman to undergo a psychiatric evaluation, and her sentencing hearing is set for Oct. 25.
With files from Radio-Canada