Nicole C. DeJaynes appeared in Onondaga County Court on Wednesday, Jan. 11. She stood before Judge Anthony Aloi who presented the defendant with a plea deal that would have allowed her to forgo a jury trial on charges of second-degree murder.
DeJaynes, 30, was indicted on Nov. 17 in connection with the death of her newborn daughter who was found in a Liverpool trash bin last January. An Onondaga County Grand Jury also charged DeJaynes with two counts of first-degree manslaughter.
On Jan. 11, Aloi offered the defendant a chance to accept a sentence of 15 years in prison in return for pleading guilty to first-degree manslaughter rather than to stand trial for murder. If convicted of second-degree murder, DeJaynes could be imprisoned for 25 years to life.
The district attorney’s office had sought a sentence of 18 years on a manslaughter plea, but Aloi lowered it to 15 years, according to court officials.
DeJaynes rejected the plea deal, but Aloi said it remains on the table for now. She’s scheduled to re-appear in court on Feb. 14, when the plea agreement would be withdrawn if she continues to prefer a trial.
“She has rejected the offer,” said her defense lawyer, Thomas Ryan. “She maintains her innocence of this crime.”
Prosecutors insist the baby, which was named Isabella Marie by members of the Liverpool Police Department, had been born alive while DeJaynes was alone in a friend’s residence at Hiddenbrook Terrace apartments. DeJaynes told her attorney that the baby was stillborn, and that, in a panic, she wrapped its body in a towel and placed it inside a dumpster on Pearl Street.
“She denies having done anything to harm the baby,” Ryan said.
DeJaynes, who lists a home address as 4336 Forestbrook Drive, off Morgan Road in Clay, remains held without bail at the Corbett Justice Center in Syracuse.
