A Wisconsin woman tried to hide the death of an infant she was babysitting before handing the child back over to the boy’s mother and going swimming with her boyfriend, police officials said.
Though the death happened in mid-October 2018, new details were released this week.
Marissa Tietsort, 28, was charged on Jan. 4 with first-degree intentional homicide in the death of the 2-month-old infant she was babysitting.
Court documents obtained by the Wausau Daily Herald said that Tietsort dressed the baby in winter clothes and strapped him into a car seat after he died.
She then pretended he was alive during a trip to McDonald’s and continued the ruse when she gave the boy back to his mother.
The Wausau Police Department had said following Tietsort’s arrest that the mother realized the infant was dead when she stopped at a laundromat and found him unresponsive.
The infant’s mother drove to a laundromat, where she found the infant unresponsive. She called the police and the infant was declared dead on the scene.
Tietsort was found at The Plaza Hotel in Wasau and was arrested after officers found she had an outstanding warrant for a previous incident of child abuse. She later told officers she went swimming after she arrived at the hotel.
Preliminary autopsy findings indicated that the case was a homicide.
The final autopsy determined the 2-month-old boy died of “blunt force head injuries with multiple impacts to the head,” according to the criminal complaint, reported the Daily Herald. The infant had at least three separate injuries to his head, which all occurred around the time of his death, forensic pathologist Robert Corliss said. The boy also had significant injuries to his tailbone, which Corliss said was “fractured, broken off and displaced, indicating a significant amount of force was used.”
In the courtroom on Friday, family and friends of the boy filled the benches wearing “Justice for Benson” t-shirts.
Tietsort was issued a $500,000 cash bond and ordered not to have any contact with children under 18 or the victim’s family. She’s also not able to leave Marathon County if she manages to post the bond. She’s scheduled to appear back in court on Jan. 18.
15-year-old girl charged with murder after baby found in dumpster: https://t.co/mUNVsX0IYi pic.twitter.com/SMKpAQnwou
— ABC 7 Chicago (@ABC7Chicago) January 3, 2019
15-Year-Old Philadelphia Mom Charged
A 15-year-old girl was charged in the death of a newborn found in the trash earlier this week, according to officials.
Jani Morris, the teen, was arrested by police after her newborn son was found near trash bags, reported the Philadelphia Inquirer. She was charged with murder, endangering welfare, and related offenses.
Police originally said they had been contacted on New Year’s Eve after a woman told them she discovered a baby inside a dumpster in the Swampoodle section of Philadelphia.
The woman and the baby were taken to Temple University Hospital, where the infant was pronounced dead at 10:37 p.m. local time.
Officials believe Morris killed the child and placed it in a dumpster, reported ABC7.
Police said they found the teen and her mother in their nearby home. Officials said they think it’s where the teen gave birth, according to the ABC affiliate report.
Diane Byrd, a local, told the paper that she was walking outside when she spotted a woman looking for help
“She stopped in the street and was saying could someone help her find this baby, her daughter put it in the trash,” Byrd recalled. When she saw the child, Byrd said, “Jesus, Jesus, Jesus.”
“We don’t know when she did it,” Byrd added. “We don’t know how she did it.”
Epoch Times reporter Jack Phillips contributed to this report.
