Judge: Stephens Guilty of Manslaughter

Brooklyn woman convicted of killing baby and dumping child at Hicksville train station

MINEOLA – Nassau County District Attorney Kathleen Rice announced today that a judge has found Erma Stephens guilty of second-degree manslaughter in connection with the December 2006 death of her newborn baby. Nassau County Judge George Peck also found the 35-year-old nanny guilty of tampering with evidence. He acquitted the defendant of the second-degree murder.

Manslaughter in the Second Degree is punishable by up to 15 years in prison. Tampering with Physical Evidence is punishable by up to four years in prison. Ms. Stephen's sentencing date has been scheduled for January 3, 2008.

In December 2006, Ms. Stephens was arrested and charged with murder after her newborn baby was discovered in a trash bag on the platform of the Hicksville Long Island Rail Road station. The defendant later admitted to police that the baby was hers and that she was the one responsible for abandoning the child at the train station.

"This was a zero-witness case without a confession and without a corroborated mechanism of death," said Rice. "While the case was extraordinarily difficult, our job is to provide a voice for the voiceless and we will remain aggressive when it comes to holding people accountable who prey on the most defenseless among us."

Assistant District Attorney and Bureau Chief of the DA's Special Victim's Bureau Madeline Singas, along with Assistant District Attorney Theresa Tebbett, handled the case for the DA's Office. Ms. Stephens was represented by Ken Montgomery, Esq., of Brooklyn.