Jennifer Baechle (Winona County Jail)
WINONA, Minn. (KFGO/CBS Minnesota) – The woman believed to be the biological mother of “Baby Angel,” a newborn found dead in the Mississippi River in southern Minnesota in 2011, pleaded guilty to a gross misdemeanor on Tuesday.
Court records say Jennifer Baechle, 44, agreed to a plea deal convicting her of interference with a dead body while dropping the second-degree manslaughter charges she originally faced.
“Baby Angel” was found inside a canvas tourist tote in the water in Homer, Minnesota, in September 2011. She had been wrapped in a green T-shirt, placed in two garbage bags and surrounded with several glass angel figurines.
A medical examiner that year found she “sustained injuries of the head while alive” and there was “no evidence that medical care was provided during or immediately after delivery,” according to a criminal complaint.
The case stagnated until 2023, when a nonprofit genetic research company pegged Baechle as a possible lead. She denied investigators’ requests for DNA at the time.
Authorities collected her DNA from a used feminine hygiene product in the trash outside of her home, but needed additional testing. About a year later, they collected her DNA via search warrant and found “very strong evidence” that she was Baby Angel’s mother, according to a complaint.
Baechle’s family members told investigators she was living in a van in Winona in 2011. They also said she collected angels, and identified a pendant found with the child as Baechle’s.
Baechle received a two-year stay of imposition as part of the plea deal, as well as supervised probation and 40 hours of community service.
As part of the agreement, the state is precluded “from further prosecution of [Baechle] for any crimes related to” Baby Angel, court records show.
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