RED WING, Minn. – A Red Wing woman was ordered to prison for 25-1/2 years for leaving her new-born on a Lake Pein beach to die naked and without a blanket late at night. Jennifer Matter, 51, had pleaded guilty. In a confession Matter admitted getting into her car and driving away with no intention of returning – and knowing the baby would not survive. Her guilty plea hinged on dismissal of abandoning another newborn, a girl, at a Red Wing marina and also late at night. Matter said she believed the girl was born dead. Both deaths were 20-some years ago, but only last year did DNA identify Matter as the mother. In both cases Matter had self-birthed at her rural home. In issuing the sentence, Judge Douglas Bayley said he was matching sentencing guidelines for second-degree murder. Investigators have been unable to link Mater to the death of a third newborn child in the Mississippi River near the Treasure Island Casino in 2007.
Earlier: Woman held on $1.5 million bond for infanticide