Wyandotte Woman Faces Trial For Murder, Child Abuse After Storing Newborn In Plastic Tote At Her Desk

WYANDOTTE (WWJ) After giving birth in the bathroom of a Redford Township office building, a Wyandotte woman has been bound over for trial.

A Redford District Court Judge ruled today there is enough evidence for 24-year old Kimberly Pappas of Wyandotte to stand trial for murder and child abuse.

Last March, Pappas gave birth in the bathroom of her office. She then allegedly cut the cord with cuticle scissors, sealed her infant son inside a plastic bag and placed it in a tote bag near her desk. Employees saw the blood in the bathroom and called firefighters, who found the still-warm boy in the bag. He had suffocated.

A father has never been named.

Pappas is charged with first-degree child abuse and felony murder, also pre-meditated murder -- which her attorney Raymond Cassar wanted dropped to involuntary manslaughter.

"I think the mental health issue goes to whether or not there was any intent," said defense attorney Cassar to WWJ's Jason Scott. "You have to show that she specifically intended this to happen (for first degree murder.) It's clear to us that she didn't have enough tine to think about anything."

The medical examiner rules that under appropriate circumstances, the baby would still be alive.

"Of course, it wasn't under the most appropriate circumstances," Cassar said, adding it wasn't a 14-hour labor, it was a "fast, one-hour birth."

Pappas is next due in Wayne County Circuit Court Aug. 31.