$250,000 bail for Delco woman charged with killing newborn

The family had no comment.

At a news conference after the arraignment, Galantino said, "The child was born alive, viable and healthy . . . and prevented from breathing, which caused death."

District Attorney G. Michael Green praised the analysis of Fredric N. Hellman - the Delaware County medical examiner who ruled the cause of death was asphyxiation - and investigators from the Upper Darby Police Department.

Those relationships appeared strained last week when Upper Darby Police Superintendent Michael J. Chitwood complained publicly that his detectives had been excluded from a meeting on the case. He also questioned whether the Piscopo family had exerted any influence on prosecutors, an accusation Green emphatically denied.

Chitwood downplayed those disagreements.

"At the end of the day, the appropriate charges were filed," he said.

The affidavit said Sardella, who was home on holiday break, gave birth on Jan. 1 in a basement bathroom of her mother's Drexel Hill home. Police said she told them that "when she realized the baby was deceased," she put it in a tote bag, which she placed in the trunk of her mother's car, the affidavit said.

Galantino said the body was discovered when Sardella's mother, Stephanie Leone, was cleaning out the car on Jan. 22. He said it was not clear whether "the child was suffocated by being placed in the bag or before being placed in the bag." He said the baby lived "about a minute."

"She committed a homicide; no question about it," said Green. "That baby was killed by this mother."

Donato suggested otherwise, saying the criminal complaint contains no evidence to support a charge of homicide. Galantino said witnesses, who he did not name, would support the charges by describing Sardella's actions before and after the birth.

Donato said his client's behavior typifies the "denial of pregnancy" syndrome, which most often affects young girls who convince themselves they cannot be pregnant and successfully hide their condition.

Police said none of Sardella's friends, relatives or associates knew she was pregnant.

Doris C. Vallone, an associate professor at Widener University who has studied pregnancy denial, said girls often "give birth precipitously, then they go into a panic or dissociate." She said some infants die because the mother does nothing.

"If you have not consciously acknowledged the pregnancy, the birth presents a trauma," she said. "The girl may not be capable of intervening because of her mental state."

Vallone said between 150 and 300 neonaticides occur annually in the United States, but the number linked to pregnancy denial is not known. In some cases, the infant's mother is never identified, she said.

Hiding the baby is consistent with the pattern, Vallone said.

"The fact that she stuffed it away is typical of this magical thinking," Vallone said. "OK, it doesn't exist anymore."

Vallone said women afflicted with this syndrome "can't really think straight," so they are unable to process the options created by the Safe Haven laws.

In Pennsylvania, a mother can take a newborn up to 28 days old to a hospital and leave it with medical personnel without facing any penalty, or identifying herself, as long as there is no sign of abuse.

The investigation began after police received a phone call from Donato about Leone's discovery. Police found the decomposed body, its umbilical cord still attached, underneath some bloody towels in a pink tote bag. Donato said he called authorities after being contacted by Piscopo.

» READ MORE: http://go.philly.com/sardellaaffidavit

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