What did Jennifer Matter do? Minnesota mother pleads guilty in newborn son's death

In January 2023, 51-year-old Jennifer Matter of Southern Minnesota entered a guilty plea and admitted to leaving her newborn boy to die near the Mississippi River.

CBS Minnesota reported that on April 28, 2023, Jennifer was sentenced to 326 months in prison for second-degree murder.

In her guilty plea, Jennifer confessed to giving birth on Methodist Beach near the banks of the Mississippi in 2003 and abandoning the newborn without any intention of returning to get him.

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Minnesota mother sentenced after two decades

The plea documents filed in January stated that on December 6, 2003, Jennifer Matter admitted going to Methodist Beach in Florence Township, Minnesota.

Law & Crime reported that according to the documents, she said:

"The beach was isolated, deserted, and dark. While at Methodist Beach, I gave birth to Infant Male, who was born alive."

On December 7, 2003, some teenagers located the baby boy's body in Frontenac on the shore of Lake Pepin.

Citing the criminal complaint, CBS Minnesota reported that Jennifer confessed to driving away after abandoning the baby on the beach without a plan to leave the baby in a safe place and hoped that the baby would be found by someone in the nearby residences.

A report by Law & Crime mentions that the criminal complaint against Jennifer Matter stated that the autopsy showed the baby was a full-term newborn male who was likely born alive.

The autopsy results suggested blunt-force head injuries and some brain hemorrhages, which were probably sustained during the birth process. According to a report by Law & Crime, the criminal complaint states:

“Additional findings noted blunt force head injuries, possibly due to the birth process, including multiple small areas of subgaleal hemorrhage, scant left subdural hemorrhage, and intraparenchymal cerebral hemorrhage."

The autopsy also revealed that no congenital anomalies were found, and early decomposition changes were observed.

Law & Crime reported that the coroner stated that the death of the baby boy was a homicide, and the cause of death was undetermined.

After DNA evidence tied her to the infant boy, authorities apprehended Jennifer Matter on May 10, 2022, at her residence in Belvidere Township outside Red Wing.

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Minnesota mother linked to another abandoned dead newborn

Prosecutors reported that Jennifer Matter was linked to a dead baby girl found in the Mississippi River's Lower Boat Harbor near Red Wing back on November 4, 1999, proven through DNA evidence and genealogy work, but was not charged in that case.

CBS News reported that following Jennifer's arrest, Bureau of Criminal Apprehension Superintendent Drew Evans acknowledged the scientific advances that assisted the investigators in tying the DNA samples of both infants to Jennifer by a genealogy search that led to probable relatives in Goodhue County. He said:

"Genetic genealogy and rapid DNA testing were both employed to develop a break in the case and then quickly confirm the identity of the babies' mother."

CBS News reported that during interrogations, Jennifer told authorities that in 1999, she was in and out of prison, struggling with drinking problems, and unaware of her pregnancy until she started bleeding and then gave birth at home in her bathroom.

According to the report by CBS News, Jennifer stated that the baby girl was born blue and was not breathing or crying. She also mentioned wrapping the baby and discarding her body the following night.

In 2021, the Minnesota BCA Crime Lab identified the biological father of the baby found in 1999, confirming Jennifer as a person of interest. Law & Crime reported that at the time of the 2003 incident, Jennifer Matter had two other children, aged 6 and 9.