Former University student gets 10 years in prison after killing newborn
Lindsay L. Johnson, a former student of the University, secretly gave birth to a child in a bathroom of Bousfield Hall on March 13th 2016.
April 7, 2017
Former University student Lindsay Johnson pleaded guilty to endangering the life of her child and was sentenced to 10 years in prison.
Johnson suffocated her newborn son on March 13, 2016. On April 12, she was criminally charged with first-degree murder, child endangerment and concealment of a homicidal death
Because Johnson pleaded guilty to endangering the life of a child, the other charges were dismissed. She originally faced 20 to 60 years in prison.
If Johnson displays good behavior in prison, she could be eligible for parole in five years, according to the ruling.
The case began on March 13, 2016, when University police responded to a call that a student had been in a Bousfield Hall restroom for several hours. Johnson dismissed the police by saying she had the stomach flu.
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The police returned about two hours later, at 7:30 p.m., after receiving another call about a woman who might have given birth in the dorm’s bathroom.
Police found Johnson less than an hour later in the Music Building. They took her to the University’s Public Safety Building, where they questioned her about the incident.
During questioning, Johnson revealed she had been carrying the deceased infant in her backpack. She stated that the baby had been stillborn.
Johnson then said the infant was born alive, and she used a towel to stop him from crying. She admitted to hiding her newborn son under her bed when the police were first questioned her in Bousfield Hall.
Johnson said she was unaware that she was pregnant until she went into labor, but phone records revealed that she has previously searched online about home abortions and ways to hide pregnancy.
