The woman who killed her young son in Connecticut in 1986 and lived a seemingly quiet and normal life with her family in Florida for 30 years, was sentenced to five years of probation on Tuesday.
Janita Phillips, 65, of Lake Mary, Florida, was charged with murder in 2021. She pleaded guilty in April to low manslaughter charges.
Probation sentences were rare in child murders, but were guaranteed as peer-reviewed psychological assessments concluded that Phillips had experienced “extreme emotional distress” during the murder, both prosecutors and defense attorneys said. Judge Gary White of Stamford, Connecticut called it a merciful case.
When Phillips killed the toddler, she and her husband had just moved to an apartment in Greenwich, Connecticut with his eldest son after becoming homeless, and her husband told her he didn’t want another baby, her attorney, Stephen DeLeo. The couple, who have been together and married for 42 years, were highlighted about their money and their ability to support their families, DeLeo said.
Phillips told police she hid her pregnancy from her husband and other relatives, the arrest warrant said. Police said her husband had no knowledge of the baby’s death and was not involved.
Phillips and her husband have three children, currently adults. One of their sons is disabled and lives in an assistant living facility, but her husband has medical problems and she will take care of him, DeLeo said in an interview.
“Illnessing her would not serve her purpose at this point,” DeLeo said. He also said she lost her job in the insurance industry due to the incident.
Phillips cried at the sentencing hearing and said he had a “deep sense of regret.” She also said she was responsible for the fullest, Deleo said. Under her sentence, if she violates probation, she could face up to 20 years in prison.
The newborn named Baby John was found dead by police in a trash can on May 16, 1986, and authorities said after workers emptied the trash can in the Greenwich apartment where Phillips lived. The Chief Inspector’s office determined that the baby was strangled to death shortly after birth and that he had deemed his death a murder.
Phillips and her family moved to Florida shortly after the baby’s death, police said.
Greenwich police said they used a new available DNA test in 2020 to link evidence found by the juvenile’s mother at the crime scene. Police took items out of the trash and recycled them in 2020 at Phillips’ Florida home. DNA tests showed Phillips and her husband were the parents of the infant, authorities said.
