A woman who had just begun a five month course with a view to entering religious life has accepted a plea agreement for voluntary manslaughter after killing her newborn infant in a convent in Washington DC last October.
In exchange for the plea, prosecutors agreed to argue for a sentence between four and 10 years in prison, although under District sentencing guidelines, the charge carries a maximum of 30 years.
On October 5 2013 a Samoan woman, Sosefina Amoa, 26, arrived in the United States to begin the 5 month course. She gave birth to the child on October 10.
Amoa’s attorney told the judge that her client accidentally smothered her newborn son Joseph after panicking in the minutes after the baby was born.
But the assistant U.S. attorney drew a more calculating picture of Amoa. She told the judge that Amoa hatched a plan of deception to cover her pregnancy as soon as she arrived.
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