Four Charged With Murder of Stabbed Newborn

Four Charged With Murder of Stabbed Newborn

The News

Four people — two men and two women — have been charged with murder after a newborn baby girl was found stabbed to death at a house in Sheffield, England, the Crown Prosecution Service said Wednesday.

The infant was discovered at a property in Holywell Heights, in the Wincobank area of the city, after South Yorkshire Police received a 999 emergency call at 5.58am on Sunday reporting concerns for the safety of a baby.

Police said a post-mortem examination found the baby died from stab wounds.

Timeline

Sunday, Aug. 30, 5.58am

South Yorkshire Police receive a 999 call raising concerns for the safety of a baby at an address in Holywell Heights, Wincobank. Officers find the newborn girl dead at the property.

Sunday

Detectives open a murder investigation. Seven people are arrested on suspicion of murder.

Monday, Sept. 1

Police say a post-mortem examination determined the baby girl died of stab wounds.

Wednesday, Sept. 2

The Crown Prosecution Service announces that four people — two men and two women — have been charged with murder. The Sun and the Daily Mail reported that five people were charged in total, including a teenage girl.

Reactions

The charging decision was announced by the Crown Prosecution Service, which authorizes criminal charges in England and Wales once police submit a file of evidence.

South Yorkshire Police confirmed the cause of death and said the murder investigation was led by its detectives. The force has not publicly named the baby or the defendants.

Coverage of the case has been heavy across the British press, from Sky News and The Independent to The Sun and the Daily Mail, with all five reports centered on the same Sheffield address and the same weekend 999 call.

What's Next

Those charged are due to appear in court, where murder cases in England and Wales begin at a magistrates' court before being sent to a Crown Court for plea and trial.

Because charges have been filed, British reporting restrictions sharply limit what can be published about the defendants and the evidence until the case is resolved.

Police have not said whether anyone else remains under investigation from the seven people originally arrested.

More

Wincobank is a residential district in the northeast of Sheffield, a city of roughly half a million people in South Yorkshire.

Killings of newborns are extremely rare in the United Kingdom, and cases in which multiple adults are charged with the murder of an infant are rarer still — one reason this case has drawn national attention within hours of the charging decision.

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