When paramedics arrived at the West Boca home of 19-year-old Bianca Desouza in 2022, they said they found her sitting on the couch, unresponsive.
In the bedroom, they came upon her newborn baby, still warm, wrapped in a red cloth. His heart wasn’t beating. They tried to save him with CPR, but he was pronounced dead nearly an hour later.
Desouza was charged with aggravated manslaughter of a child and neglect of a child causing great bodily harm, charges which, combined, carry a maximum sentence of up to 45 years in prison. In December of last year, she pleaded guilty to both counts.
On Friday, a Palm Beach County judge withheld adjudication but sentenced the now-23-year-old woman to time served and 10 years of probation while requiring that she attend an 18-month in-patient mental health treatment center in New Mexico. A withheld adjudication allows defendents to avoid a formal conviction, but it remains on their record.
The sentence Desouza received is substantially lighter than the eight years sought by prosecutors and also much more lenient than the sentences in other local cases of neonaticide, which refers to the crime of killing a baby less than 24 hours after it is born. In 2023, a different mother was sentenced to 14 years in prison for the killing of her newborn in the “Baby June” case in Palm Beach County.
Often, mothers in neonaticide cases conceal their pregnancies from those around them and give birth in secret, then dispose of the body after the baby is born.
Three years ago, on the afternoon of May 2, 2022, Desouza had given birth in the bedroom, alone, then watched, without moving, as her newborn son cried, before leaving to take a shower, according to a probable cause affidavit.
Desouza’s mother came home and discovered the baby, according to the affidavit. A 911 call then came from Desouza’s cellphone number, and Desouza’s mother could be heard yelling in the background and saying the baby is dead, the affidavit said.
“Bianca giggles and says, ‘I’m sorry, my mom is loud.’ She yells to her mom, ‘If you would just be quite (sic) for five seconds,’” the affidavit said.
Desouza later told deputies that she “didn’t know what to do” after giving birth, according to court records, adding, “I’m mad that I could just let my body stop working.”
At her baby’s funeral, which was attended by a Sheriff’s Office detective, she wept, saying, “I’m so sorry. I’m so sorry. I’m so sorry.”
Desouza was Baker Acted after the birth, and couldn’t remember anything or answer basic questions such as the length of her pregnancy, her attorney, Elizabeth Ramsey, told the South Florida Sun Sentinel.
Nineteen months after her baby’s death, deputies arrested her.
Last month, Judge Sarah Willis granted a defense motion to allow for a lesser sentence, which was based on Desouza’s showing of remorse, young age, history of childhood trauma, and psychiatric issues.
Her crime was “artless, simple, and not refined,” wrote Ramsey, who serves as chief of serious crimes for the Palm Beach County Public Defender’s Office.
Desouza was herself a victim of child abuse, according to the defense motion, which led her to be removed from her parental home, and had a history of hospitalizations and suicide attempts beginning at age 14. She also had prior charges of domestic violence against her own mother as a juvenile and against her husband as an adult, the second of which did not result in a conviction.
Under the sentencing requirements, Desouza must go directly to the New Mexico treatment center for at least a year, after which she must get a job or attend school while on probation.
Ramsey told the South Florida Sun Sentinel Friday that Desouza will remain in the Palm Beach County jail until her transfer to New Mexico is approved.
“She really has never had a chance in life,” she said. “… I think she’s at a stage where I’m really excited, I think she can do this. I think she’s going to come back a very different person and she’s going to be a productive and happy member of our community.”
A spokesperson for the Palm Beach County State Attorney’s Office declined to comment on the sentencing.
