Killer mom jailed
16 years for teen toter of slain baby
A teen mom who killed her newborn, stuffed the body into a bag and then toted it along through the Herald Square Victoria’s Secret in 2013 was slapped with a 16year prison term Thursday.
Tiona Rodriguez — who was just 17 when she gave birth in a friend’s bathroom and allegedly smothered the child — had faced life behind bars if convicted at trial.
But Rodriguez, now 21, pleaded guilty last month to first-degree manslaughter under extreme emotional disturbance, paving the way for the lesser sentence.
Rodriguez, wearing white rosary beads around her neck, shook her head when a judge asked if she would like to say anything.
“We hope this brings justice to the baby boy who never got to live his life,” prosecutor Chloe Kendall said before Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Thomas Farber imposed sentence.
“This is a horribly sad and tragic case,” said Farber, who included five years’ post-release supervision in the sentence.
Rodriguez had given birth to at least one other child. She first gave birth at the age of 14, according to her lawyers. That child now lives with the father.
It was revealed as the case played out that she’d had a second pregnancy, although it remains unclear whether it was carried to term.
During her January plea, Rodriguez conceded her son had been alive when he was born.
“You admit the baby was born alive?” Farber asked.
Following a prolonged pause, Rodriguez responded: “Yes.”
She was initially charged with shoplifting for allegedly swiping a pair of pants and a tote bag from the lingerie shop. The dead tot was discovered after security guards who suspected her of stealing the items noticed a foul odor emanating from her bag.
The shoplifting charges were later dropped.
“People look at her and think she’s so evil, but there is so much more to this young woman than these incredibly horrible moments in her life,” her defense attorney, Julie Rendelmen, previously told reporters. “She was feeling incredible pres- sure and incredible feelings of inadequacy.”
Rodriguez was charged with murder after prosecutors reading through her personal Facebook messages found an interaction with a friend in which she callously referenced the baby boy.
“Take this s--t and dig a hole, put it somewhere, lol, then we go eat IHOP,’ ” the message read.
It’s not clear how long the newborn had been alive before his asphyxiation.