Crime & Safety

DA to Seek Death Penalty for Mom Charged With Killing Newborn

Amanda Hein is charged with killing her newborn after giving birth in the bathroom of Starters Pub in Lower Saucon.

The Northampton County District Attorney said Wednesday he will seek the death penalty against an Allentown woman charged with killing her newborn after giving birth in the bathroom of Starters Pub in Lower Saucon.

DA John Morganelli said in a legal filing that Amanda C. Hein deserves to be executed because she murdered a child, according to The Morning Call.

Hein was scheduled to have a formal arraignment Wednesday morning in county court.

According to prosecutors and testimony at Hein's preliminary hearing, the 27-year-old Hein admitted to putting the baby in a bag inside a toilet tank. When the baby was discovered Aug. 19, police described it as a worker finding a fetus.

But Morganelli has said the baby had been "alive and viable," having gestated for between 33 and 36 weeks before Hein gave birth.

"When you're dealing with a baby, it's very difficult," Morganelli has said. "It looked like a full-term baby as far I was concerned. Whether it was one hour old or one minute old or a year old, it's still a person."

The charges against Hein were held for county court action at the conclusion of an Oct. 28 preliminary hearing.


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