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🇧🇪 Belgium /Crime & Justice

Claudia De Carvalho found guilty of murdering newborn daughter

From VRT NWS · () Dutch

Translated from Dutch, summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.

At a glance

News Sources not specified Outcome reported
  • Claudia De Carvalho, 26, was found guilty of infanticide by a jury in Bruges.
  • The jury did not find evidence of premeditation, but ruled that her newborn daughter, Preciosa, lived for 6 to 12 minutes after birth.
  • De Carvalho faces up to 30 years in prison; sentencing debates begin tomorrow.

A jury in Bruges has found Claudia De Carvalho, 26, guilty of infanticide. The verdict, delivered by a popular jury, determined that De Carvalho killed her newborn daughter, Preciosa, shortly after birth on January 1, 2023.

Preciosa came to life in Bruges immediately after birth on January 1, 2023.

— VRT NWSReporting on the circumstances of the newborn's death.

The jury did not find evidence of premeditation. However, they rejected the defense's argument that the case involved fatal child neglect. Medical examiners determined that Preciosa lived for 6 to 12 minutes after birth. The prosecution argued that De Carvalho attempted to hide her pregnancy, despite confrontations from friends and colleagues. She secretly gave birth in the attic room of her aunt and uncle's home, where she had been living since age 12. De Carvalho claimed she feared being thrown out of the house and has always denied intentionally killing her daughter.

The defense argued that it was only fatal child neglect, but the jury did not agree.

— VRT NWSExplaining the jury's decision against the defense's argument.

Local police were alerted on January 3, 2023, by a niece of De Carvalho who discovered the baby's lifeless body in a paper bin, inside a garbage bag. De Carvalho admitted to being the mother but initially claimed the child was stillborn. The sentencing debates are scheduled to begin tomorrow, with De Carvalho facing a potential sentence of 30 years imprisonment.

In a paper bin, the aunt of De Carvalho found the lifeless body of a baby in a garbage bag.

— VRT NWSDescribing the discovery of the infant.
DistantNews Editorial

Originally published by VRT NWS in Dutch. Translated, summarized, and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.

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