A woman who discarded her newborn baby into a trash dumpster has been sentenced to nine years in prison after pleaded guilty to reckless homicide. Prosecutors said 24-year-old Breanna Gering of Franklin gave birth in the restroom of a diner where she was working then dumped the baby outside.
“There’s no doubt this baby was alive” said Racine County Assistant District Attorney Rich Chiapete, adding Gering denied being pregnant even when confronted by police with confirmation.
Defense attorney Julius Kim claimed Gering panicked and did not think the child was alive after she was born. Kim also claimed the young woman felt “tremendous pressure” from a conservative family after she had the child from a boyfriend they did not know about, and already had a child out of wedlock.
“I wish I could go back and change that day and I’m just so, so sorry,” Gering tearfully apologized to her family, her 3-year-old daughter, and to the infant.
Racine County Judge Allan Torhorst acknowledged that Gering was driven by denial, along with both family and other pressures. He called it “an incredibly tragic event.”
