A woman in the process of becoming a nun is now charged with murdering her newborn child.
District of Columbia police stated that 26-year-old Sosefina Amao smothered her child to death after giving birth to him in her convent room at Little Sisters of the Poor on October 10. Amao had apparently lied to the nuns about her past sexual activity and was trying to prevent the baby’s cries from revealing her secret.
She admitted to holding a garment over his mouth and nose until he stopped breathing, then she and another nun took his body to a hospital the next day.
Examinations of the body ruled asphyxiation as the cause of death and Amao was charged with first-degree murder Wednesday.
She originally told authorities that she was unaware of her pregnancy, but later admitted to her real motive. Amao told the nun who accompanied her to the hospital that she had found the dead baby outside, but later revealed she was the mother of the child.
Sister Constance Veit of the convent said, “We all feel that this is a tragic situation.”
