A Palm Beach County judge has resolved one of the region’s most disturbing infant death cases without sending the mother to prison. Circuit Judge Sarah Willis sentenced 23-year-old Bianca DeSouza in February to 137 days of time served, 10 years of probation, and 12 to 18 months of mandatory inpatient mental health treatment in Roswell, New Mexico, after DeSouza pleaded guilty to aggravated manslaughter of a child in the 2022 death of her newborn son.
DeSouza was 19 when she gave birth alone at her unincorporated Boca Raton home on May 2, 2022, according to police arrest affidavits, just one day before she had been scheduled to undergo a medically induced labor at a hospital, as reported by CafeMom. An emergency call reported an unresponsive infant at the home, and Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office deputies and fire rescue personnel performed CPR and administered epinephrine to the newborn before he was transported to a nearby hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
Bodycam footage from her December 2023 arrest, later uploaded to YouTube by PoliceCam Busts, captured DeSouza describing the delivery in stark terms to investigators, as detailed by The Inquisitr. She told deputies she picked the baby up by his shoulders, placed him on her leg inside her shorts, and stayed in that position for about ten minutes while the newborn cried before going silent. She said she probably went on her phone during that time, telling investigators, “I just didn’t care anymore.”
Medical Examiner Ruled the Death a Homicide
The Palm Beach County Medical Examiner’s Office ruled the manner of death a homicide, determining the newborn died of asphyxia with chest compression noted as a contributing factor, according to a report cited by the Sun Sentinel. DeSouza was ultimately charged with aggravated manslaughter of a child and child neglect with great bodily harm, and after a long-running investigation by local authorities she was booked into the Palm Beach County Jail and told she could potentially post bond after appearing before a judge the following morning…