Woman charged in death of baby found in freezer

Author: The Associated Press
Published: Updated:
MGN Online

HOMESTEAD, Fla. (AP) – Authorities say they’ve charged a woman in the death of her infant son, who was found dead last month in a freezer at a South Florida home.

The Miami Herald reports that 37-year-old Paola Vargas-Ortiz has spent the past month in a mental health care facility, but Miami-Dade police took her into custody Thursday and charged her with manslaughter.

Authorities say Vargas-Ortiz was poised to jump from the Seven Mile Bridge in the Keys on Jan. 17 when she told authorities that she had tossed her 4-month-old son, Hugo, in first.

After Monroe County deputies took Vargas-Ortiz into custody, officials say, she told them the child was actually dead in a freezer. Homestead police went to the woman’s home and found the child’s body.

Jail records didn’t list an attorney for Vargas-Ortiz. She was being held without bond.

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