More than 21 years after a newborn baby was found dead along a Brantford, Ont., trail, his mother pleaded guilty in court.
The 39-year-old woman was arrested in February and charged with indignity to a body and concealing the body of a child.
She pleaded guilty to only one of those charges on Wednesday, admitting she disposed of her child’s body.
The woman cried quietly as she stood next to her lawyer in court.
Despite entering a guilty plea, she insisted she had no memory of the crime.
History of the case
The full-term baby boy was wrapped in a yellow towel and left near Dufferin Avenue and Parkside Drive on July 28, 2005.
A neighbour found a “bloodied object” in his backyard the next day and thought it was raw meat. He called the Brantford Police Service when he heard a dead baby had been found in the area. The object turned out to be a placenta.
An autopsy found trauma to the child’s skull, jaw and left ribs, but the medical examiner could not determine when those injuries occurred. The body was also too badly decomposed to determine the exact cause of death or if the baby was stillborn.
An investigator named him Baby Parker.
Finding Baby Parker’s mother
New details about the search for Baby Parker’s mother were revealed in court.
According to the agreed statement of facts, the man who found the placenta lived next door to the mother.
On July 30, 2005, the mother was interviewed at the police station. She told investigators she was having a sexual relationship with a man and was aware that a newborn had been found dead in the area.
“As a result of this information, a consent for a DNA sample was requested from (the mother),” the document said. “(The mother) orally agreed to provide a DNA sample on consent; however, a sample on consent was never obtained from (the mother).”
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A big break in the case came in 2023.
Police said they worked with the Toronto Police Service and its Investigative Genetic Genealogy Unit to identify Baby Parker’s father. They narrowed it down to two men who were both 20-years-old in 2005. One of them had been in a relationship with the mother.
Police said the woman was identified as a person of interest on Feb. 26, 2024.
In June 2025, officers collected garbage from the mother’s home. They swabbed a water bottle and sent it off for testing at the Center for Forensic Sciences in Toronto.
The mother was arrested on Feb. 26, 2026. Police said they obtained a DNA warrant to confirm their initial results.
“Specifically, it is estimated to be five million times more likely (she) is the biological mother of the newborn male child than some other random woman being the biological mother,” the document said.
At the time of Baby Parker’s birth, she would have been approximately 18-years-old.
According to the agreed statement of facts, no one knew she was pregnant and she did not appear pregnant.
“(The mother) says that she did not know that she was pregnant until the birth/stillbirth of the newborn male child,” it said. “(The mother) says that she has no memory of concealing the body of the newborn male child.”
The Crown noted that they had no evidence to disprove those assertions.
The mother’s name has never been shared publicly due to a publication ban.
Sentencing considerations
Justice Elizabeth Wilson questioned whether a guilty plea was the right approach, as the mother said she did not remember what happened the day she gave birth.
“The essential part is that it’s an informed plea,” the judge stressed.
She then addressed the mother.
“If I make a finding of guilt, which I anticipate I will, you will have a criminal record, do you understand?” Justice Wilson asked.
The mother answered, “yes,” while wiping tears from her cheek.
“This is a very difficult case and everyone wants to be sure we are being fair to [the accused], and we are taking the right approach at resolving the matter,” Justice Wilson said.
The sentencing process is expected to begin in November.
