Kimberly Aponte was just 19 when she gave birth to her son inside her family’s home in Hackensack, New Jersey. She delivered the baby in the bathroom about 3 a.m. on August 22, 2020, but what happened next was a true tragedy. Aponte placed the infant in the toilet for hours while she cleaned the bathroom. The infant died, and Aponte just pleaded guilty to manslaughter charges on March 28, 2025.
The teenage mother left the baby in the toilet as she cleaned up the scene, according to an affidavit obtained by the Bergen Record. Around 8 a.m., once she believed he was dead, Aponte wrapped him in plastic and a towel and put him in a hamper. She told investigators she intended to bury the body behind the family’s apartment complex, but her father found him later that afternoon and called police.
According to court documents obtained by NJ.com, police arrived and found Aponte in her bedroom with a small amount of blood near her. They took her to an area hospital. Investigators read Aponte her rights, and she reportedly confessed to knowing she was pregnant but did not tell anyone aside from her boyfriend and did not seek prenatal care. She had anticipated giving birth in August or September.
“Aponte observed its arms, hands and legs move,” court documents show, NJ.com reported. “She left the baby in the toilet for hours as she cleaned the bathroom.”
Per NJ.com, the Bergen County medical examiner conducted an autopsy and determined the “baby boy was full-term, born alive, well-nourished, well-developed, and well-hydrated.”
A detective wrote in the probable cause statement, “She left the baby there because she realized it would change her life.”
The Bergen Record stated Assistant Prosecutor Brandy Malfitano is seeking the maximum sentence of four years in a New Jersey prison as part of Aponte’s plea deal. According to the newspaper, she will return to court in July for sentencing.
