Teen Pleads Guilty to Killing Child

A 16-year-old girl pleaded guilty Monday to aggravated manslaughter for smothering her 8-month-old baby to death. Prosecutors said she wanted to get the attention of her estranged boyfriend.

Stephanie Fitzgerald, of Pennsauken, could be sentenced to 12 years in prison when she is sentenced Sept. 20. She would have to serve 10 years before being eligible for parole.

Fitzgerald pleaded guilty for the January death in a deal with prosecutors, who agreed to recommend the 10-year sentence instead of the 30-year maximum for aggravated manslaughter.

Appearing in court Monday in blue jeans, a white T-shirt and handcuffs, Fitzgerald tearfully told Superior Court Judge Linda G. Baxter that she put her hand over her daughter Isabella Steele's mouth for about a minute on Jan. 10.

"She stopped breathing," Fitzgerald said. "I panicked."

Fitzgerald said she waited at least 10 minutes before calling for help. The baby survived for about four days on life support at Cooper Hospital-University Medical Center and at Children's Hospital in Philadelphia.

Prosecutor Vincent P. Sarubbi also dropped three charges of aggravated assault against Fitzgerald. She had been accused of placing her hand over Isabella's mouth until the girl stopped breathing; in each of those cases in November and December, the baby was hospitalized.

But until a cause of death was determined in April, doctors believed the child was suffering the effects of sleep apnea. Sarubbi said the state Department of Family and Youth Services knew the baby had been hospitalized, but did not consider those cases to be abuse.

Sarubbi said Fitzgerald hurt her child in an effort to get attention from the child's teenage father, Britt Steele.

"Unfortunately, this is an example of children raising children in our society," Sarubbi said. "It's a sad matter and it's difficult for us to make any sense of it."

Several of Fitzgerald's relatives were in court as the teen pleaded guilty, but none had any comment.

The baby's paternal grandmother, however, remembered Isabella.

"What a wonderful little girl she was," Lorraine D'Aversa said. "She's with us every moment in our hearts and in our minds."

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Author: 6 ABC-AP