Mother found guilty of murdering her newborn son

The verdict against Andee R. Wright, who sobbed loudly before jurors even entered the room, came on the first day of deliberations, with jurors returning their answer in less than two hours.

A previous jury deadlocked on the charges against her, leading to a mistrial in December.

Paul Dell, Wright’s lawyer, said the verdict would be appealed.

“I am shocked by the verdict,” he said.

Prosecutors and defense attorneys in closing arguments Tuesday sought to discredit the testimony of medical experts in the trial of Wright, who is accused of murdering her newborn son after giving birth to him in October 2020 in his home in the town of Tonawanda.

Prosecutors said Wright intentionally killed her son, named Baby Boy Wright by investigators, after giving birth to him in a toilet, before fracturing his skull and placing him in a basement trash can. The defense argued that the baby was stillborn and Wright, who did not know she was pregnant, threw it in the trash in a moment of panic and confusion, after losing a significant amount of blood during of the incident.

In their final call to jurors, prosecutors presented autopsy reports from the Erie County Medical Examiner’s Office that they presented as evidence that the baby was born alive, including microscopic images of breast expansion. lung tissue, images of bleeding in the baby’s brain and apparent bruising and blood on the baby’s head.

Assistant Erie County Prosecutor Rebecca Schnirel asked jurors to look at the footage and decide for themselves whether they saw bruising and bleeding on the baby, which does not occur after death.

Schnirel also pointed out the compound fracture in the side of the baby’s skull, which experts said would be inconsistent with a short fall to the bottom of the toilet, or even a fall from Wright’s arms, given his size.

The defense said the baby could have been dropped again after the first fall into the toilet.

“These injuries, all of them, are completely inconsistent with an accident,” Schnirel said.

Dell cited language used by prosecutorial experts that he said led to the conclusion that prosecutors had not proven the case beyond a reasonable doubt. He pointed to the phrase “more likely than not” used in the medical examiner’s office findings, indicating there was uncertainty in their interpretations.

“They’re asking you to speculate,” Dell said. “They ask you to guess that this all amounts to murder.”

Schnirel also worked to discredit medical experts brought in by the defense, particularly Dr. Jane Turner, who said the baby likely died in utero, offering several explanations for how that diagnosis could be consistent with the injuries described in the medical examiner’s reports.

She noted that Turner had offered similar testimony in other child death cases across the country, pointing out inconsistencies in his reports and calling his responses vague.

“Talking to Jane Turner is like talking to someone who is trying to convince you that the sky is not blue or that the earth is flat,” Schnirel said.

Dell told jurors that the prosecution spent a lot of time during the trial talking about Wright’s drug and alcohol use – she was drinking and using cocaine at the time of the incident – because they wanted to that the jury convicts her of making bad choices or being a bad mother. He asked them to consider this part of their argument speculative.

“As far as this case and this trial goes, it’s just background noise,” he said.

Schnirel argued that was key to the jury’s decision, pointing to Wright’s pregnancy with a son born in 2012, when doctors told her she was pregnant after going to the emergency room for a headache.

She hid the pregnancy from her then-boyfriend and his family, Schnirel said.

“Now, in 2020, we’re supposed to believe this happened again? ” she says.

Dell said jurors should consider that Andee Wright is the only person who knows exactly what happened that night and she told authorities the baby was not alive when he was born.

“It was a tragedy,” Dell said. “Wrongly convicting Andee Wright would be another tragedy.”