PEI

Charlottetown woman pleads guilty to 3rd infanticide charge

A Charlottetown woman previously convicted in two cases of infanticide pleaded guilty to a third charge of infanticide in provincial court Wednesday.

Sentencing set for September

Shannon Dawn Rayner will remain in custody until sentencing. (Brittany Spencer/CBC)

A Charlottetown woman previously convicted in two cases of infanticide pleaded guilty to a third charge of infanticide in provincial court Wednesday.

Two months ago the remains of a third infant were discovered by police on a property where Shannon Dawn Rayner used to live.

It was just this past April when Rayner, 40, pleaded guilty to the two previous infanticide charges. 

Charlottetown Police began their investigation in March 2017, when they received a report about a woman who had been seen to be pregnant twice, but did not appear to have young children.

Rayner had been slated for sentencing on June 5, after pleading guilty to two charges of infanticide. Police believe the infants died in 2014 and 2016.

However, the case got more complicated when the remains of a third child were found in May in a shed on the property of the house police had searched earlier. That led to police laying a third charge of infanticide.

The initial two charges were laid after police searched the Sherwood home in September and found the remains of two infants in storage totes. The shed on the property was not part of the initial search warrant.

Rayner will remain in custody and will be back in provincial court Sept. 10 to be sentenced on all three charges.

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With files from Steve Bruce