Colonarie woman charged with manslaughter of newborn baby

Following completion of a Preliminary Inquiry into the death of her newborn baby boy, J’Verne Fernandez will have to answer to a charge of manslaughter.{{more}}

This was the decision handed down yesterday by Chief Magistrate Sonya Young, at the Serious Offences Court.

The decision will now see Fernandez, 23, of Colonarie, appearing before a judge and jury in the High Court at the next sitting of the Criminal Assizes to answer a charge of manslaughter.

Fernandez first appeared in court on September 4, 2013 on a charge of murder.

It is alleged that after she gave birth to the child on August 31, 2013, at her home at Colonarie, the baby was wrapped in a blanket, placed in a handbag and taken to the Milton Cato Memorial Hospital.

It is unclear when the child died.

Fernandez is the mother of two other boys, ages three and four.

Senior prosecutor in the office of the Director of Public Prosecutions Adolphus Delpesche led the Crown’s case.

Attorney Ronald Marks and his junior, counsel Andrew Russell, represented Fernandez.(KW)