Woman Convicted of Lesser Charge in Newborn’s Death

A 23-year-old woman was convicted Monday of involuntary manslaughter in the death of her newborn baby, as Pasadena jurors rejected murder charges.

Jimi Lee was arrested March 24, 1998, along with her sister, mother and a family friend on suspicion of murder after Lee’s baby girl was discovered stuffed in a trash bin.

Lee was charged with first-degree murder, and charges of accessory to murder were dropped against the other defendants.

“Other than finding her not guilty, this is the least she could get,” said David Tardiff, Lee’s attorney, after the verdict was read.

She could face up to four years in state prison, although the judge could decide to give her probation with time served when she is sentenced April 19, Tardiff said. Lee served seven months in jail waiting for her trial to begin.

“It was a tragedy all around,” said Victoria Pipkin, a spokeswoman for the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office. “Any time a newborn baby is killed, it is a tragedy.”

Deputy Dist. Atty. Kimberly Leong, who prosecuted the case, did not return calls Monday.

Leong had pushed for a first-degree murder conviction, contending Lee intentionally suffocated the baby girl shortly after its birth, then discarded it in a Los Angeles trash bin.

But Tardiff argued the baby drowned in its own amniotic fluid minutes after birth at Lee’s Glendale apartment.