A German woman has been sentenced to seven and a half years in prison for manslaughter after dropping her newborn daughter from a window last year.
Daily Mail reports that Katarina Jovanovic, 28, of Baden-Wuerttemberg, was convicted Wednesday at the Heilbronn District Court.
According to prosecutors, Jovanovic had secretly given birth at home on September 12, and then dropped her newborn daughter from her apartment window, at a height of nearly 12 feet. A passerby found the baby with a shattered skull and contacted the police.
Jovanovic had become an executive at Porsche, and feared that being a new mother would jeopardize her career, the court heard.
“The accused was not prepared to put her life plans, especially her professional advancement, on hold for a child,” prosecutors reportedly said. “That was her decision when the baby was born, and as a result, the criteria for a murder conviction are fulfilled.”
The defense argued that the defendant didn’t know she was pregnant and panicked once she gave birth.
“It is a drama that affects me personally. My client did not even know she was pregnant,” defense attorney Malte Hoech told the court. “When she suddenly held the baby in her hands, she was in an exceptional psychological situation. It was an accident, she dropped the baby. How the child ended up over the windowsill remains to be determined.”
Although the prosecution pushed for murder charges, the court ruled in favor of the lesser charge of manslaughter.
Her lawyers, who pushed for a sentence of three years behind bars, said they intend to appeal the decision.
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[Featured Image: Katarina Jovanovic/LinkedIn]
