Woman who killed newborn sentenced to 29 years to life

A woman who drowned her daughter’s newborn baby in 2018 was sentenced to 29 years to life in prison Friday in Kern County Superior Court.

Beant Dhillon received a 25-year-to-life sentence for the murder of the infant plus four years consecutive on a child cruelty charge, according to the Kern County District Attorney’s Office.

The infant died in November 2018 at a southwest Bakersfield residence.

According to court documents, a 15-year-old girl gave birth to the baby in a bathroom of the home. Shortly afterward, her 23-year-old male cousin took the baby and gave it to the teenager’s mother, Dhillon, who drowned the baby and buried the baby in a flower bed, according to court documents.

“Dhillon killed a newborn child within moments of its birth. The choice to commit murder was made by Dhillon alone, and the attempts of the defense to blame an entire community for Dhillon’s murderous actions are meritless, as proven by the verdict,” Kern County District Attorney Cynthia Zimmer said in a statement.

“The sentence was an appropriate conclusion to an exceptionally tragic case. While we are honored and humbled to represent the interests of our community’s most vulnerable victims in court, tragic cases like this leave untold impressions on everyone involved, from the jury, the prosecutor, the victim’s family, and all throughout the community. Sentencing after a just verdict is an important step in the healing process, and can help all affected by such a tragic case continue to move forward.”

Dhillon’s husband, Jagsir Singh, was also arrested by police on suspicion of being an accessory and willful cruelty to a child. He died in an apparent suicide on March 7, 2019.

The man accused of being involved in the incident, Bakhshinderpal Singh Mann, was in the country illegally, according to the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. He reportedly cut his GPS-monitoring device and remains at large.