A 29-year-old woman who was raised in the Liverpool area was arrested Friday Jan. 14, and charged with second-degree murder.
Nicole DeJaynes is accused of killing her newborn daughter whose body was wrapped in a towel and placed in a trash dumpster at the Pearl Street Apartments in the village.
At an afternoon press conference on Jan. 14, Liverpool Police Chief Bill Becker announced that a woman admitted she was the mother of the dead infant. She was not identified by name at that time, but Becker said she was receiving medical attention at a local health-care facility. Police provided her name when she was arrested that evening after abruptly leaving the facility.
While authorities await final determinations of cause and manner of death from Onondaga County Medical Examiner Dr. Robert Stoppacher, the district attorney’s office charged her with murder. DeJaynes was arraigned at about 11:30 p.m. Friday before Liverpool Village Justice Anthony LaValle who entered a mandatory not-guilty plea on her behalf before sending her to jail at the Corbett Justice Center, in downtown Syracuse.
On Saturday, First Chief Assistant District Attorney Rick Trunfio confirmed that the medical examiner had yet to receive toxicology results. Nevertheless, he added, DeJaynes’ sudden departure from the medical facility “combined with the risk of flight, sped up our timetable in regard to what charge and when we would do it. Right now the theory is an intentional theory, that she intended to kill her newborn.”
DeJaynes has had a history with Child Protective Services, Trunfio said, but he would not provide details.
Investigators continue to follow leads “to ensure that any and all possible persons involved in this incident are contacted and identified,” Becker said.
LPD Det. Michael Lemm supervised the probe which was conducted jointly by officers from the Manlius and Camillus police departments working under the auspices of the Onondaga County Major Felony Unit, as well as members of the New York State Police Bureau of Criminal Investigation and the Onondaga County Sheriff’s Office. The county office of Child Protective Services was also consulted.
Two days before the mother’s arrest, Liverpool Police named the baby Isabella Marie, and said they were planning a funeral service for the victim. DeJaynes indicated no interest in the funeral plans, Becker said.
When asked if the mother expressed any remorse about the disposal of the infant, Becker said, “No, she did not.”
Officers’ door-to-door canvassing and online tips from the public led detectives to DeJaynes early last week, Becker said. When initially interviewed by detectives, DeJaynes denied involvement in the incident, Becker said, but after several interrogations over three days, she admitted she had given birth to the baby.
She and her boyfriend, 23-year-old Zach Prouty, had reportedly been visiting friends who live at the 60-unit Pearl Street Apartments. Prouty’s father, Greg Prouty of Baldwinsville, told a reporter that he believes his son knew nothing about the abandoned infant. Regarding the child’s paternity, the elder Prouty maintained that his son had been dating DeJaynes for no more than seven months.
“She’s the mother of the child,” Becker said at Friday’s press conference, “I’m not going to comment on who actually placed the child into the dumpster.”
Zach Prouty was arrested on a bench warrant on Jan. 11, the first day police interviewed DeJaynes. He’s being held without bail on charges of possession of a hypodermic instrument and fourth-degree criminal possession of a weapon, charges originally brought by Syracuse police.
Trunfio revealed Saturday that DeJaynes is the also mother of a 5-year-old child now in the custody of a grandmother. DeJaynes’ mother has been identified as Tessa Bona-Blewett of Clay.
Also speaking at Friday’s press conference at the Liverpool Village Hall were District Attorney Bill Fitzpatrick and Sheriff Kevin Walsh.
